Last Chance
by Tazaki4
Summary: Harry Potter returns to year four after the fight with Voldemort takes everything he ever cared about away. What will he do with his last chance to make a better future, one with his friends still alive? Humor is also a genre. BloodLan warnings.
1. Time Broken: Prologue

AN: Alright, if this is your second time reading this you will no doubt be wondering what the hell happened.

A Harry/Hermione suddenly turned into a Harry/Luna.

Well, I wanted to continue this work, but I became a Harry/Luna shipper after watching the fifth movie and reading the fifth book.

So here it is. The new and improved "Last Shot". As if books 6 and 7 didn't exist, and only enough of five to have Luna.

**Last Shot**

Prologue: Time Broken

Harry Potter. The boy-who-lived. The one destined to finish the dark wizard. The one who could survive the killing curse. The one who, now, only a few weeks after his 18th birthday, wishes for nothing more then for that last curse to have hit. He kneels on the ashen ground of what had once been the beautiful grounds of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. His wand falls to the ground from his now limp hand.

It is finished.

The world around him stops. The battle between the light and the dark, the aurors and the death eaters, continues around him. But ten feet away lays the lifeless corpse of Voldemort, killed by the hatred and anger Harry had held in his heart until this moment. Hatred for watching his best friend, Ron, get obliterated with reducto not three feet away. Anger for the lives of his Hogwarts friends and teachers, all of which had been slaughtered in the opening salvo of the dark lord. Malice for Hermione… killed only minutes ago at his side with the killing curse from a now dead Lucius Malfoy. All of his feeling and existence had been wiped away with her last breath, the last breath of thelast of his friends.

And with her last breath, a power entered Harry Potter. He cast an unforgivable curse. He cast crucio, not once, not twice. Voldemort had been hit with the curse three times in a row before Harry Potter ended his suffering with the killing curse. Now, Voldemort lay face down in the ash, his body magicly decaying too fast to be natural, while Harry Potter stared at the hands that had once been used for good. He didn't notice time passing as the battle came to its inevitable end as the last remaining Wizard of Hogwarts leads the army of the ministry of magic against the now leaderless death eaters.

Dumbledore had been at the ministry on the day Hogwarts had been invaded, and had come back to find his beloved school empty of everything but the lifeless corpses of his students. Harry Potter and a small group had survived only by luck that Voldemort did not think to look in the Chamber of Secrets carefully. But now the greatest wizard to have ever lived and the boy who, some might say, had surpassed him in power, were the lone survivors of the school. And one of them was ready to end it all.

Harry Potter considered picking his wand up and casting the killing curse on himself, he knew he would mean it enough to pull it off. He also considered just staying where he was. He didn't want to get up, or he would probably be ushered around as a hero. A hero who couldn't save the two people who meant the world to him. He didn't want to lay down, for then he might glimpse the body that was only a few feet to his left and a few behind him. The body of Hermione Granger, the only one to stand by his side till the end even as her heart had been crushed by Ron's passing. Harry thought back to the girl he had once thought of in a similar way. And her death. And now... he didn't want to die, but… he didn't want to live either.

This is how Dumbledore, the wise old wizard, found Harry Potter. In deep shock, so deep that he was completely conscious of his surroundings. It was as if his brain had taken all it could take and overloaded, only to have taken more till it finally was forced to understand reality. Harry should have been rejoicing, or weeping, or screaming… but he just stared at his hands. The elder of the pair walked over to him and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Harry…"

"Yes, professor." Dumbledore gave a small smile at that. School had been invaded and taken over in his sixth year, but Harry still called him professor.

"How are you?"

How was he? What kind of question was that? He was alive, both an unexpected and nearly unwanted occurrence. He was fine, but that was bad, so he wasn't fine… was he?

"… I feel like shit." Harry still didn't look up, but noticed the light around him grow brighter. This would have been the day that school would have started again after summer break. He would have already graduated by now, though… Hermione would have been reading a book anyway and Ron would have been practicing quiditch. Ron… brutally murdered as he helped Harry stall for the rest of his friends as they escaped to the Chamber of Secrets. Hermione… the girl who had become his second friend and one of the best. And... her. Now there was no chance for anyone, least of all him. If only she had survived. If only he had been stronger. Faster...

"No serious injuries?"

"Just my heart…"

"I am afraid I have no potions to help that."

"Could you… could you please do something for me?"

"For the savior of the wizardry world? Of course, what is it?"

"Please… kill me."

"Wha… what?"

"I can't life my arms to curse myself. Please… kill me…"

"Harry, I can't kill you."

"Yes, you can. It's easy. Just think of everything that has happened because Voldemort was looking for me. The death of Hogwarts, for instance. Blame me for it and cast it."

"Harry… I can't do that."

"YES YOU CAN! Just kill me so I can be with my friends!"

"… does it mean that much to you, Harry? These friendships? The lives of the people who died at his hands?"

"How can you ask me that? My life has been dedicated to them!"

"What would you give up for a chance to save them?"

"Wha… what do you mean? I would give anything and everything." Dumbledore now saw as Harry Potter lifted his lifeless eyes to him. Dumbledore gave a sigh.

"Harry, there is something that I have been wanting to try ever since that day. But I couldn't, for everyone here still needed me. Now that he is finally gone, you might want to try it. I have a way to, theoretically, travel back in time." Dumbledore pulled a large medalion shaped thing from his robes which Harry instantly recognized.

"The time turner won't work. It can't change events."

"No, that wouldn't work. The thing is, if it works then you would travel back in time and replace the previous soul of your body. It would create a whole new future. But the chance of failure is staggering, and failure means certain death."

"I'll do it."

"You don't know what you're saying. Even Sirius would have listened to what I had to say before leaping into the unknown."

"Sirius is dead, killed as he waited for me in front of that thrice damned house! You don't understand, professor. If there was a ten to one chance I could change this, I would take it. If there was a million to one chance to have my friends alive again, I WOULD DO IT EVEN IF IT WAS ONE HUNDERED PERCENT CERTAIN I WOULD DIE FROM IT! Tell me."

"Here." He handed the time turner to Harry. He noticed it was larger than the one he had used in third year. "The time turner I gave Miss Granger in her third year is not like this one. That one had a time limit of one day that one could travel back in time. This one has a limit of three years. Her time turner could not turn back more then a day, a safety spell insured that, but this one could be turned back for thousands of years. Do you know what happens when you turn a time turner further then the maximum and then use it?"

Harry shrugged.

"I will tell you. Your soul would be ripped from your body and you would die on the spot. But there have been three cases where this has not been the truth. Two people managed to survive turning back time four days on a three day time turner, but they were not copies of themselves. The same happened to a person who tried going back eight months on a half year turner. The body they left in the future died, but they came back the same age after being very careful to not alter anything they had done. It is strictly illegal to alter the past in such a way, not that it is an inforcable law, but in this case…"

"So you want me to use this time turner to go back four years and hope my soul, after leaving this body behind, bonds with my body of four years ago? And then change the future?"

"The time you are to go back is completely untested, so the likeliness of your death is close to guaranteed…" Dumbledore didn't have a chance to speak again as Harry Potter began to wind the turner.

"I understand, professor. Thank you for your help and everything, and I appreciate everything. If I fail, make sure Hermione gets a hero's burial."

"Even if you succeed, I will never know. You will both recieve hero's burials."

"You mean, this future won't go away?"

"You will merely be creating an alternate universe really, Harry. Don't ask me, I don't fully comprehend all the theory behind it. The first change you make will put the enitre world on a whole different path. How close it is to this one is your choice. I wish you good luck."

Harry Potter had finished winding the time turner till the small face on it showed that it was overloaded by a complete year. This would put him back in his fourth year at Hogwarts, the tri-wizard tournament, and the resurrection of Lord Voldemort. Without letting go of the turner he put one arm around his old mentor and only surviving friend.

"Thank you again, professor. Create a bright future here and I will try to do the same in the past." Harry had tears in his eyes as him let go of Albus Dumbledore. The old wizard had streams of tears traveling into his beard as he watched Harry Potter give his last smile in this world.

He released the time turner, as it started to spin faster Harry Potter winced once. Then, with a flash of light and a loud crack, Harry Potter lay on his back next to the body of Hermione Granger, together in death as the friends they had been in life. Dumbledore wiped tears from his eyes as an auror walked up behind him.

"Sir, what was that?"

"That was a boy taking the last option."

"I am sorry, sir, but I don't understand. Is he dead?"

"You do not need to understand, just know that Voldemort is dead at the hands of Harry Potter. And now this Harry Potter is also dead."

"_This_ Harry Potter?"

"Yes, this one is dead." Dumbledore smiled at the still spinning time turner. "But somewhere, sometime, he will live again."

* * *

Harry Potter felt his consciousness drift through the void of nothingness. To describe feeling nothing is impossible, for it most certainly doesn't feel like the nothing that it is. He felt the emptiness like it was tangible, like fullness, but the opposite. He felt the lack of senses not as if something had been removed, but as if something had been added and it was too large or miniscule to grasp in his mind. It was dark, but not due to lack of light. Silent, but not due to lack of sound. A vacuum, but not from lack of substance.

_Is this death?_ With that thought, the nothingness broke. Harry Potter was thrown from the nothing and into the something. He instantly returned to a reality with a scream of what could have been fear or pain, but he felt neither. But the something, even in his unconsciousness, was more then the nothingness.

His head filled with a buzzing as the senses he hadn't felt in either seconds or decades or millennia returned slowly. The blurs he saw with regained sight began to become clear. The sounds he heard gradually became clear. There was color, there was noise, there was something.

Harry Potter sat up instantly from his laying position, cracking heads with someone who had been only inches away from him.

"Harry! Damn it… ouch… that hurt, mate."

"Oh, shut up Ron! Harry? Harry, are you ok?"

"Back off, Hermione, he was the one to head butt me, unless you have gone blind."

"You didn't collapse while you were screaming for no reason, did you?"

_The voices. The names. What… what happened. Oh… I remember… OH!_

Harry Potter sat up slower this time. He was on a train, a very memorable train. The train that would take him to his destiny.

"H…Hermione? Ron?" It was like he was seeing them for the first time in years, which in almost every sense, he was.

"Yes, Harry. Are you ok?"

"Am… am I ok?"

"Yes, are you ok?"

"He's not deaf, Hermione!" Both Hermione and Ron were obviously worried, his female friend's eyes were moist with unshed tears. And Ron looked as if Harry had just been struck by an Avada Kadavara.

"Hermione… Ron…" His friends were startled as Harry Potter engulfed them in an embrace. It took only a moment for them to notice the moisture seeping into their robes. _He's crying?_

"Harry? What's wrong?"

"Wrong? Oh, Hermione, nothing is wrong anymore. Nothing is wrong anymore and it won't be wrong again."

"Um… ok, then." Ron was getting uncomfortable hugging his best friend on the floor of the train car when his sister and about five other people were looking in from the hall way. They must have heard him scream and collapse.

Harry released his friends before getting back into his seat. He had a smile larger then most on his face, even though his tears were still streaming down his face.

"Harry, you're crying. And you passed out. Are you sure you are ok?"

"I am better now then I have been in years, Hermione. Believe me." He looked at the faces of Ginny and others that were looking at him with worry in their eyes. They were alive. Ron was alive. Hermione was alive. Harry was alive. Nothing could go wrong. Suddenly Harry sat straight up.

_She's here._

Harry, with tears still in his eyes, was instantly out of his seat and out the door. He instantly started down to train, ignoring his friends exclamations at his actons. He glanced quickly into every cabin, trying to find that one person he needed to see the most. Even if it was one year too early to meet her, he wasn't going to wait that long.

Not this time.

Harry was racing through the train cars, dodging first and second years. Sometimes even accidentally casting a repelling shield charm silently and wandlessly to get through the students. Luckily no one seemed to notice.

It was in the last car that he found who he was looking for.

In a smaller than normal cabin, sitting all alone, was a blond haired third year staring out the window. Harry flung the door open without a thought and leaned against the door frame, much more tired then he should have been. The girl was slightly startled, though her face showed nothing as she turned to him.

"Yes?"

Harry just smiled as he looked into her eyes. Three and a half years younger than the last time he saw her. He couldn't help it as he slumped to the ground in exhaustion, his last sight being the young girl looking down at him with just that slight hint of worry in her eyes. He could always tell when she was worrying...

* * *

Harry woke up for the second time in as many minutes much more refreshed than the first time. He guessed his soul had finally merged or whatever it was supposed to do. His head hurt like it had when he had fallen from his broom after the dementor attack five... no... one year ago. He grimiced as he opened his eyes to see exactly the same people that had been their the first time. Ron and Hermione now looked very worried and upset, more so then before. He just smiled and pulled himself up into the seat next to him.

It did not escape his notice that the third year girl was still staring at him and was now seated directly next to him.

"Harry..."

"I'm fine."

"No..."

"Yes. I am. I just got up too quickly last time. Hit my head on the way in, must have given myself a mild concussion."

"But then you ran all the way down the train to here? Without passing out, mind you. And then just konk out again upon reaching this car?"

"Yeah." Harry smiled again, trying his hardest to lie believably, as he sat next to the blond. "And I don't think I should move again for a bit. I need some rest."

Ron and Hermione seemed mildly ok with his excuse, but informed him that the moment they reached Hogwarts that he would be dragged to the nurse with or without his approval. Then they took the seats across from him. It was only then that they even seemed to notice the girl next to Harry.

"Um... Hello. Sorry about the... inconvenience?"

Hermione tried to greet the smaller girl, but after a few words noticed that her gaze didn't waiver from Harry. Harry seemed to notice this as well.

"Hello."

"Hello." Harry almost had to laugh. Her voice was just as mysterious and charming as it had ever been.

"I'm..."

"Harry Potter."

"And you are?" Not that he didn't know the answer.

"Luna Lovegood."

* * *


	2. Luna Lovegood?

Chapter 1: Luna Lovegood?

* * *

Now, there are many things about being a wizard that Harry Potter never had obtained in his past life. Most of them, however, had nothing to do with actual magic. Harry Potter had been known as the most unpredictable wizard of his time. He had been backed into a corner more times then anyone could count, but always came up with something new. Usually uncovering a latent ability such as focused wandless magic or silent casting. Or both at the same time. He was in the infirmary for a few days after that one.

No, Harry Potter was probably the best actual 'wizard' of his time. Dumbledore had had trouble keeping up with him at times.

What Harry Potter was missing was an actual life.

Three years had been spent dueling death eater after death eater, vanquishing his foes and working towards Voldemort. In that time his mind had been completely focused on what was the next plan. Or who to kill next. He still had friends at that point in his life, but with the death of the girl he just might have had a crush on he finally cracked, pouring his life entirely into the defeat of Voldemort.

The bottom line? Harry Potter hadn't had a decent conversation in over three years.

Or minutes, depending on who was looking at things.

"Luna Lovegood? As in…"

Harry shot his friend a glare. It had been like this the first time as well. Ron and Hermione had heard stories about had crazy Luna was. How 'Loony' Lovegood was the biggest ditz in school, and yet managed to be in Ravenclaw. They had nearly convinced him that she was crazy, but after only a few minutes of talking with Luna he quickly realized that…

Well, she was just as sane as he was.

And this time he wouldn't let those rumors spread or effect his friends farther.

"Yes?" Harry almost laughed when Luna didn't realize the insult that had been on his friend's tongue. She had always been like that. Sure, she had probably known what might have come out, but she always thought the best of everyone. If he hadn't actually said it than she wouldn't hold it against him. If he had said it… she wouldn't hold that against him either.

"Oh, sorry! This is Hermione Granger…" Hermione gave a small smile and nod. "…and Ron Weasley." Ron tried his own smile and nod, but it looked more like he was grimacing.

"Hello."

The funny thing was that Luna had not stopped staring at Harry since the moment he had come in. Even in the introductions. Still she stared at him, from only inches away, as if trying to understand something.

Harry just stared right back.

The cabin was very awkward and quiet for the next few minutes. Or at least it seemed that way to Hermione and Ron. Harry and Luna seemed perfectly fine with the staring contest. After nearly ten minutes a familiar red head burst into the cabin, instantly Ron breathed a sigh of relief. This was one weird train ride, weirder then even last year with the dementors…

"Sorry Luna, I met some friends on my way and stopped to talk so I… oh… hello."

Ginny Weasley was looking at a full train cabin with her brother, crush, her brother's crush, and her friend all sitting silently. Luna was staring at Harry, Harry at Luna, and Ron and Hermione were staring at both of them staring at each other.

_Weird…_

"Ron, what are you doing here?" Her face was already getting red, though if it was from the presence of Harry or just the surprise at their presence it was difficult to tell.

"Harry decided to sit here, that's all." Ron didn't look to happy about it. Hermione looked worried for some odd reason…

"Oh, hello Ginny."

Luna's eyes didn't break from Harry.

"Luna? What are you doing?"

"Looking for Wrackspurts."

"In Harry's eyes?"

"Best place to check…"

Harry couldn't help himself anymore. He just had to do it, really. He couldn't stop himself.

Harry Potter, for the first time in the time since her death, laughed.

He just threw his head back and started to laugh like a madman. Soon it wasn't just Luna staring at him. Luna was sorely tempted to join in the laughter. It was a proven warding against nargles, after all.

"Yep, definitely Wrackspurts."

"You have that right, Luna. Definitely Wrackspurts. I am feeling rather fuzzy right now."

"I could tell. You came running in here and fell down asleep."

"Sleeping where I'm not supposed to attracts them, I know." Luna's eyes lit up. She obviously had not expected the boy-who-lived, savior of the wizarding world, to care the slightest about Wrackspurts. Or know the least about them.

"Yes! You should avoid doing that, but a good nights rest will usually send them running."

"I know, I'll get one as soon as I can."

"Good."

Luna smiled a very large smile before turning around and beginning to read the Quibbler again. Apparently he had met her staring inquiry and passed.

The rest of his friends stared at him like he'd gone crazy.

Which, of course, he had, about halfway through the second official war against Voldemort. But he was feeling fine now.

"Harry?" Ron looked like he wasn't sure if it was Harry or someone under the effects of polyjuice potion.

"Yes?"

"Are you _sure_ that you're ok?"

"Yes, why?"

"No reason, just you're acting like you hit your head a little harder then you thought."

Harry frowned a little. He had hoped the ingrained views they had had against Luna Lovegood hadn't developed yet. But apparently they had both heard about the girl before he had ever met her.

_Which is too bad, as Luna was one of the closest people to both Hermione and me after Ron had passed away…_

"I'm fine, just…"

To everyone else in the compartment, including Luna Lovegood, Harry Potter just froze.

To Harry Potter it was like his soul was being ripped in half.

Harry's eyes rolled back in his head and he flopped to the side, right into the lap of Luna Lovegood.

Something that would have normally embarrassed both of them, but this case was slightly different.

What with the trickle of blood coming from his mouth.

* * *

"_Damn it! I need to get back to headquarters now!"_

_Harry Potter disapparated in front of number 12 Grimmauld place to find the door completely destroyed and the bodies of three or four death eaters laying about the entrance._

"_No…"_

_He ran into the entrance with his wand drawn, but soon realized that the only people he would be fighting were already dead. At least ten bodies littered the small area in his view. The room was destroyed to say the least, and so were the people on the floor. Harry nearly broke down on the spot. There, in the corner, was his last link to his father and god-father. Remus Lupin sat lifeless against the wall, a large piece of his left side completely missing. It was obvious who he took the attack for, as right next to him was the also lifeless body of Nymphadora Tonks, the auror metamorph that Harry had been giving Remus crap about for the past half year._

_He didn't have time to break down, though. Seconds after entering the house he was heading towards the only sounds he could hear, passing more bodies as he ran._

_Most were wearing the traditional black of the death eaters, but some were people he knew. Order members and friends._

_Harry stopped at the only door that had living people in the entire house._

"_Crucio!"_

"_Stop it!"_

"_Relax, boy, it will be your turn next."_

"_Can't you see its killing her?"_

"_Of course I can, why else would I do it?"_

"_Bitch…"_

"_Damn right. Sectumsempra."_

"_No!"_

_Harry peaked around the corner and instantly wished he hadn't. Laying against the back wall of the room were three people who he had hoped had gotten away._

_Or won._

_Anything but this…_

_Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasley, and Luna Lovegood were all sitting against the back wall._

_Ginny had obviously been hit by the killing curse, and had been for at least enough time for Neville to have tear streaks down his face. They had been on the verge of a relationship, everyone could tell._

_Neville appeared unhurt besides being restrained completely by ropes held by two of the death eaters in the room._

_Luna…_

_Luna's condition tore his heart apart._

_Luna's normally sparkling eyes were dull with pain. She sat against the wall in the after effects of heaven knows how many crucios. She now had a rather large wound in her right arm, and her left arm was completely missing. Cauterized at the shoulder probably by a strong cutting hex followed by incendio._

_Harry took it all in the information in less then a second._

_Five death eaters stood with their backs to him, one obviously meant to be a watch out but enjoying the entertainment too much to care._

_One, the one laughing and standing directly in front of the bodies was Bellatrix Lestrange._

_It took Harry three seconds to cast the anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards. It took less to summon a wand from the dead death eaters in the hall he stood in._

_It took an instant to attack._

"_Neville!"_

_Instantly three death eaters turned to see Harry Potter jumping through the doorway. The two who didn't turn couldn't. They had their heads hit with silent reductos._

_Coincidently it was the same two that had been keeping Neville in check. Now Neville's arms were free to catch the wand that had been banished towards him._

_Three left._

_Harry spun and shot three rapid stunners fanned out at Bellatrix which she dodged easily. But it did give Neville the opportunity to do what was least expected._

_He cast the killing curse._

_One death eater fell._

_Harry sent his strongest cutting hex at the other death eater, and in his last moments of life he realized that Harry Potter's cutting hexes are a hell of a lot stronger then a weak protego could block. He found that out the hard way as his body fell in half._

_Harry spun around as a bludgeoning hex nicked his shoulder. He rolled with the attack, spinning around to find Bellatrix with her insane smile on her face._

_Right before Neville jumped from nowhere and dug his wand into her eye._

_In an instant Harry heard three very distinct shouts._

_His own, calling Neville's name._

_Neville's, shouting his anger and hatred to Bellatrix as he dug his wand deeper into her bleeding eye socket._

_And Bellatrix's, crying out in pain and anger the two words that Harry despised above all others._

"_Avada Kedavra!"_

_Neville dropped, his hands leaving the wand in her eye._

_She smirked._

_Right before four metal spikes shot from around Harry and through her arms, pinning her to the wall behind her. Her wand dropped harmlessly to the ground. She was held suspended in the air by spikes in his wrists and upper arms, but four more appeared in either leg as well._

"_Well, the hero arrives again. Just too late, this time…"_

"_Shut the hell up, bitch."_

"_Now Harry, watch your lang…"_

_Harry suddenly was in front of her with a bottle wedged in her mouth. A potion flowed down her throat. She tried to spit it out but something kept her from doing anything. It wasn't poison at least._

"_That potion was the work of one of the best potion masters in the world. He made it to possibly help patients who suffered from too many crucios. Crucios that you have cast. It increases the sensitivity of pain and pleasure receptive nerves. In your case I used it for the pain."_

"_I love pain."_

"_You don't know what pain is. This potion will force you to feel times the pain of any normal event and still keep you conscious if you normally would." Harry took the wand still in her eye and twisted._

_She screamed._

"_Crucio!"_

_And Bellatrix felt pain. She shrieked even louder. _

"_I can't stand to hear a woman scream, so I guess I don't have a problem right now. CRUCIO!"_

_Pain._

"_Incendio! Crucio!"_

_Too much pain._

"_Crucio!"_

_She kept screaming as Harry left her burning body pinned to the wall and ran to Luna._

_But he could see he was too late._

_He was too late the moment he had arrived._

_He wounds had nearly bled out, the flow was slowing to an unhealthy bubble. Despite the effects of magic even the greatest healers could not replenish blood from nothing._

_Harry lifted her head to look into her eyes. She seemed to still be conscious, but only barely…_

"_Ha…Harry?"_

"_I'm here Luna…"_

"_Harry… I knew yo… you'ld… come…" Blood was trickling from the corner of her mouth. It was a sure sign she was bleeding internally._

"_Hang on, Luna. People are coming to help now…"_

"_I… not gonna make it…"_

"_Don't say that, Luna. You'll make it. You promised…"_

"_Sorry… lied…"_

"_No… no, you didn't lie. Luna! You can't go! Luna, I think I love you, don't go!"_

"_I… lo… you… too…"_

"_Luna? Luna?"_

* * *

"LUNA!"

Harry Potter sat up so quickly in bed that he almost passed out. His hand was gripping his wand and was ready to curse the next person he saw.

Which happened to be Professor Albus Dumbledore.

Harry immediately dropped his wand to his bed and stared with a confused look at the man who was using the same stare at him.

"Yes, Harry?"

Harry spun to his other side to see at least most of his friends staring at him with the same confused looks that he was giving them. Luna was standing off to the side a little, completely undisturbed by his outburst. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and even Neville Longbottom, who appeared to just be there to deliver one of his home grown medicinal herbs, stood around him.

"Uh… hi?"

"You gave us all quite a scare, Harry." Harry turned to see the professor eyeing him strangely. As if seeing how he'd react.

_Can he know?_

"How long was I out?"

"Just long enough to miss one of the most bloody interesting opening feasts we've seen." Ron seemed a little put off, but that was normal for him.

"You just liked it when that all girl's school came through, Ron."

"I couldn't help but notice that you weren't exactly keeping you eyes to yourself when that all boys school came in, Hermione."

"Well!"

"Ron, Hermione. Could you tell me later? I have a serious headache…" Harry laid back down on his pillow. He wasn't lieing. It really was a monster headache. What had even happened? One moment he was in the train then there was a horrible pain…

"Now that Mr. Potter is awake I will have to ask all of you to return to the feast. Rest assured, Harry will most likely join you soon." The professor had soon shooed them all away, only having trouble with Luna Lovegood, who seemed to always find her way back into the room. She had only known the boy for a few moments, but already she considered him to be a good person.

_I hope he gets better soon…_

When Dumbledore had finally gotten the door closed with Luna on the other side of it he cast at least three locking charms and one silencing charm on the room.

None of which Harry should have been able to see him doing, but with all the training he had been given it wasn't all that hard to spot.

"Now, Mr. Potter… I do believe that we need to talk in private."

"Alright. I'm not going anywhere."

Dumbledore took a seat in a chair next to his bed before waiting a minute. He finally took a large breath and spoke.

"Harry… when you slept I attempted to enter you mind. Granted, this was purely to make sure your mind was healthy from whatever ailed you."

_Shit!_

"My first attempt was blocked. Now I will have you know that it is not possible for a non-occlumency user to block me. The second attempt was successful."

_Double shit!_

"I saw the dream."

Harry stared blankly at the professor.

"Will you please tell an old man exactly what is going on?"


	3. How Much Shit is in a Load?

Chapter 2: How much Shit is in a Load?

* * *

Harry Potter, the single most powerful wizard to have ever lived, excluding Merlin in only fifty percent of the texts, was staring in utter horror at the only person alive that could have found out his most secretly kept secret as of only hours before.

The secret so secret that if it was to ever be found out it might tear the dimensions apart at their ever so fragile seams.

Or, as the case seemed to be, do nothing whatsoever.

But that was not what was running through Harry's mind now. No. The adult in the teen's body's mind had gone mostly blank except for a few curses that involved no magic at all.

"Harry?"

It dawned on him that the man in front of him was Albus Dumbledore, and if anyone could be trusted with the information of his recent travels, it would be the man that sent him on them.

"Sir?"

"Are you ok, you seem quite pale?"

"Fine, sir. Just…" Harry stopped talking and looked down at his bed.

"Just recovering from nearly destroying your soul."

"That sounds just about right."

"Can you explain to me why your body was fighting off your own soul? Maybe then I will understand your dream."

"Well, I guess that was part of the whole merging process, though I didn't think it would be quite so painful. Then again, this was supposed to kill me anyway…"

"Harry, you're rambling."

"Professor, I am not the Harry Potter you know. I'm the Harry Potter you will know, or knew. Will have knewn. Yeah, that's not correct grammar, but it applies here."

"Ah…. What?" For once in his life, Harry had confused the all knowing professor.

"Time travel."

"Ah… I assume this is not merely a botched time turner incident, or you would be very dead."

"Correct. You from then sent me three years into the past three years from now which was only hours ago. I'm pretty sure I'm dead. There. I mean then. Wait… what was I saying?"

Both of the wizards stared at each other for a few moments in silence. The professor broke the silence with a tired smile.

"Lemon drop?"

"Why not?"

* * *

"Hermione, Harry was acting really weird on the way here…"

"What tipped you off, Ron? The screaming or the bleeding from his nose while he had seizures?"

"Probably the screaming… wait, was that sarcasm?"

"No Ron, why would I ever use sarcasm with you?"

"Well I don't know… wait…"

Hermione sighed as Ron tried to think of exactly what was going on. They both sat in their usual places at the Gryffindor table partaking only lightly in the festivities, which was saying something about their mental states. Hermione could barely eat worrying about Harry. Ron… was only eating at half speed. And while that was still faster than half the rest of the student body, it was still something to the red head.

Next to them sat Neville and Ginny, both seemed just as worried as Ron and Hermione, but were at least managing to enjoy the feast a little. One had to admit that the visiting schools were very interesting at least. More than once a girl from that all girl school would look over at their area and Neville could have sworn she winked at him.

"Hermione?"

The girl turned once again to face her red haired friend. She wasn't really angry with him, but the trouble with Harry today just had her so… flustered. It was frustrating to say the very least when you see one of your best and first friends look like he was dieing.

_Frustrating? Try feeling completely futile! I couldn't do anything! It was RON who ran and got a teacher! I just stared in horror crying as I watched Harry nearly DIE! And I still don't know why! _

To tell the truth it was taking all she could do to stay composed and not break down again right in the middle of the feast.

"Yes?"

"Harry's a strong guy, he'll be fine. Right?" His question wasn't filled with the uncertainty that Hermione felt. It was filled with the assuredness that he was right. Ron was sure Harry would be fine, just as he was sure of every move he made in chess or every turn he made in Quidditch.

It was very reassuring. Hermione gave him a small smile in return for his encouragement.

Sure, he could be a damn prat sometimes, but at other times he really was a friend.

* * *

"Hm…"

"Yeah…"

"… Hm…"

"… yeah…"

"…"

"…"

"So…"

"Yeah, I'm Harry from three years from now."

"… I was away from Hogwarts on political business when…"

"They all died."

"Except you."

"And a few others."

"The dream?"

"A flashback."

Dumbledore looked like he had aged another three hundred years.

"Dear me… I'm… so sorry Harry."

"Don't be. You saved me. It was you who sent me back in time. It was you and Hermione who stopped me from going crazy after that day. You found me in that room exactly as you saw the dream end, only hours later. I owe you my life for saving me after it was all done and sending me back here."

"No, Harry. You owe me nothing. But I do feel like we should discuss some things. First, and I can tell you understand why, never tell anyone where… when you came from."

"I know. I have no ambitions as a fortune teller."

"Second, this is not the world you went through. Already changes have been made to this timeline. Miss Lovegood wasn't supposed to meet you for another year, as I gather from your concise but brief story. Yet now you have met her now. She is not in love with you and you are not in love with her…"

"Sir, I beg to differ…"

"No, Harry. You might have been in love with the Miss Lovegood from your time, but this is different. You are complete strangers now, do you understand?"

Harry reluctantly nodded. What he had wanted to say was that he had never mentioned being in love with Luna. Even after her death it was not the pain of a lover's passing her felt, it had been the pain of a missed chance. The pain that he would never be able to see what could have happened between them. He might have never fallen for her, but he never had a chance.

"Third, please do not go on quest to kill everyone who wronged you in the future. All information you have about the future you should keep to yourself. Don't tell even me…"

"But…"

"If it is a life or death situation, then inform me. But I am not supposed to know the future. No one is. You might feel like you have a responsibility to act on the knowledge you have, but greater men have thought similarly and merely destroyed themselves and the ones around them."

"Huh?"

Dumbledore gave Harry a tired smile.

"In short, please don't tell anyone anything about this. I will do the same."

"Alright. I wasn't planning on informing anyone anyway. You just had to see the wrong dream."

"Now, in relation to your recent near death state. The very distant time travel was obviously the cause. The final joining of your soul to your younger soul was taking place and when it was nearly done I assume it went through the most difficult part, your personalities, and your mind couldn't take the strain. Your mental state appears to be fine, undamaged at least, and the joining is done now. I would say you are fit to head down to the feast. We do have a few visitors after all. And a surprise for everyone… one you likely already know."

Harry caught a twinkle in the old man's eye.

"I guess I am going to need to mix things up a bit so you don't get bored, eh, Harry?"

Harry gave the man a smile of his own. Completely forgetting who he was and where he was he embraced him.

"Thanks, Professor."

And with that the wizard was gone. Leaving Dumbledore wondering exactly how powerful Harry was now. He had accelerated faster than even the top duelists he had ever seen had done. Into a hug. Dumbledore smiled. It had been a long time since anyone had ever done that…

* * *

The doors of the main hall opened with nearly no sound at all, but still every eye turned to see the latecomer. Harry Potter, three years old for his age, entered the hall of his past with a smile on his face.

There was the Gryffindor table, the Slytherins, the Hufflepuffs, the Ravenclaws, the guests, the teachers, and…

His friends.

Hermione and Ron were barely in their seats as they both waved at him like he would disappear in a second. He hadn't stopped smiling for an instant since his talk with Dumbledore. As he walked to his seat he recognized so many faces he hadn't seen alive in years.

Along with some he could have done without seeing ever again.

Draco Malfoy, for one, who happened to be directly in his way.

"Potter. I heard you fainted like a sissy on the…"

Harry walked past him like he was non existent.

"Potter!"

"Hm? What is it Draco?"

Most of the crowd who knew the two gasped as Harry turned around to find Draco with his wand drawn. The teachers were also disturbed. But the wand wasn't pointed at anyone yet, so it was still alright by school rules. But bordering on disturbing the student body.

"I do not like to be ignored, Potter."

"That's good. I do not like to have sand in my shoes."

"…What?"

"Yeah, you know. Sand in your shoes. I can't stand it. Annoying as hell, you know?"

Draco didn't know how to respond. For a moment, the Hufflepuffs closest to him backed away as he looked about to explode.

"WHAT THE HELL?"

"Sand. Shoes. Hell, you understand, I know you do. You know what else I don't like? Sugar-free cookies. Such a disgrace to the noble name of cookie, don't you agree? They don't even deserve to be called cookies at all, really. What is a cookie without sugar? A biscuit, that's what! Damn those arrogant bastards who consider sugar-free to be healthy. If I wanted healthy I'd eat a salad, not a cookie! A cookie needs to have loads of sugar in it. And chocolate chips, at least three hundred per square inch, don't you agree? Cookie is pretty much synonymous with heaven if it involves chocolate chips. And sugar. Can't stand those sugar substitutes, always make it seem less… real. You know? Of course you do."

Sometime in his rant the entire place had gone completely silent and jaws had dropped all over the place. Except Draco, who looked like he was either having a stroke or looked like someone had just run over a banana with a car before feeding it to their pet rock and then having said rock comment on how it tasted like chicken.

Yeah, like that.

"I knew you'd understand Draco, you always were good at understanding things. Anytime you need to talk, just give me a call." Harry patted him on the back before continuing to his table and taking his seat next to a completely stunned Ron.

As he started eating the area once again began to talk. A few continuing conversations put on hold, a few in foreign languages, but most were about the totally confusing Harry Potter.

All except one blonde haired Ravenclaw who struck up a conversation with the first year boy next to her about the true definition of the word cookie and its place in history as one of the most important food groups. The boy just stared at her with the same face as Draco, who hadn't moved even when five minutes had passed.

* * *

"Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"What was that?"

"That, my friend, was 'Utterly confound Draco Plan 2.1'."

"You mean…"

"It was just a way to get past him without fighting or getting hexed. Worked like a charm. No, better then a charm. Did you see his face?"

Harry stuffed a delicious tart into his mouth. It was one of the few hot meals he had had in months and he wasn't going to waste it. Ron and Hermione couldn't help but try to hold back laughs at their friend. For a moment they had thought he had gone completely wankers on them, but it was really all just to utterly confuse Draco.

"You know my parents only make sugar-free cookies, being dentists and all."

"I know. I'll forgive them when they repent of their sins." Harry gave her a grin to let her know he was joking. God, it was good to be back.

Hermione and Ron seemed to be a little worried about him still, but his presence seemed to ease their minds a bit. He didn't mention it was based off of something Luna had taught him last time. It had worked just as good this time. Even better, actually.

"So… what happened back on the train, mate?"

Harry almost choked on his tart. He hadn't come up with a good cover story yet, and his actions were way past the whole 'hit my head' excuse. The warrior in Harry was trying to convince him that a quiet and quick memory charm was in order, but the Harry Potter that he once was, that he was now, knew that memory charms were just begging for broken friendships, friendships Harry had only recently gotten back.

"Dumbledore said it was a magical imbalance in my core."

_True, but not the whole story._

"But Harry, how is that possible? Everything I've read about magical imbalance involves extremely dangerous and powerful magic. You weren't doing magic on the train."

Harry sighed inwardly. Go figure magical imbalances would have been in Hermione's reading material. He picked his friends too well.

"I didn't understand it fully, but he mentioned that it might have been a side effect from our adventures with that… uh… time turner and my unusual magic…"

"Oh!" Hermione had actually heard about that somewhere. Where someone's core was actually resistant to the time turner magic, almost like an allergy, and it caused odd side effects that sometimes wouldn't appear for days or in some cases even years.

"I still wish I had gone with you that time…" Ron said as he dug into his food with renewed fervour.

"Yeah, well I'm all better now. No problems now that the Professor looked at me. He said it had probably been bothering me few a few weeks, but it only got really bad as I passed through the barrier. When surrounded by the rest of the magic around the train and the station it started to get agitated. I had had no exposure to magic all summer, so it made sense to me."

_Great! She knew about the time turner allergy already. I wasn't sure if she only learned it later. I wonder what Hermione would think if I was using information she gave me to draw attention away from the fact she gave me information._

"That's great! We were so worried…"

"She was worried, I knew you would be fine."

Harry smiled at them and ate the rest of his tart. He was barely succeeding in not crying at his friend's caring attitude.

"Mister Potter."

Now that was a voice he had never expected to hear again. It was filled with the same contempt as it had always been and Harry interiorly shivered. A voice from the past that he had never wanted to face again, for different reasons than Draco's.

He owed the owner of this voice his life.

"Yes, Professor Snape?"

The greasy haired man was almost shocked by the respect he had never heard in the Potter's voice before. But he continued.

"Mister Potter, whatever you have done to Mister Malfoy undo at once or face detention."

Harry turned from facing Snape to the still unmoving and few statuesque form of Draco Malfoy still standing exactly as he had five minutes ago. Some of the Hufflepuffs near him were getting daring and actually placing odd pieces of food in his robes sleeves and there was one rather large slice of pie on the top of his head, well balanced to say the least.

_The confundus charm I place on him wasn't that powerful, was it? Ah man… already in trouble and only a few hours in._

Harry walked back to Malfoy before standing exactly as he had been during his interesting discussion about cookies. The student body once again focused completely on the two as did most of the guests and the teachers, including Professor Dumbledore who had only recently arrived at his chair in a burst of phoenix fire.

"I'm sure I didn't place any spell on Draco, sir, I didn't even have a wand out. He's just shocked, I guess. You need to say the right words to get him out of this."

Harry took a deep breath before addressing the frozen boy.

"Draco Malfoy, you wake up this instant or I'll tell your father you have started being kind to muggle born witches and wizards."

Such an innocent and softly spoken statement instantly caused the confundus charm on Draco to break without anyone knowing the better. Harry smiled at Draco as he looked around in confusion.

"Draco, you have a pie on your head."

And with that Harry went back to his table. Snape almost chuckled as he ushered a very confused and food covered Draco back to his table.

As for Harry, he didn't bother concealing his own chuckles. And as he walked back to his table he casually glanced towards a certain person he knew would have enjoyed what he just did. He wasn't expecting for Luna Lovegood to actually meet his gaze. He almost stopped breathing as she smiled that same dazed smile at him that had always been on her face. He broke the gaze in less than two seconds, but that had been enough to have him realize something about himself.

He definitely had some feelings for Luna, and not just the Luna of the future.

Oh, this was going to be an interesting year.

* * *

AN: So, how do you think it is going? Not the longest chapters ever, but I put at least 2500 words in each. A little short by my own standards, but this is my first attempt at this subject so go easy on me until I get used to the flow of my own story. Hope you got some humor out of this chapter, I know I did.


	4. Chalice of Bigness

Chapter 3: Chalice of Bigness

* * *

Dumbledore stood in his place as the feast began to come to a close. He had enjoyed himself, as he did every year, but his mind was elsewhere through most of it. It seemed Harry Potter had saved the world once and then gone back in time to save it better.

Granted, Dumbledore himself had never been in a serious relationship, but he understood a few things about them. And without a doubt it was one of these that drove Harry to do what he had done.

Nearly tear his body and soul asunder on the slime hope that he could do something to fix the 'past'.

Dumbledore sighed.

"Students of Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. I welcome you all here to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for the Triwizard Tournament."

Some cheering went one, but mostly they all just looked at him in anticipation.

"Three champions, one from each school will compete to become the grand champion through three tests throughout the year. If you wish to enter then write your name on a slip of paper and place it into the Goblet of Fire."

Everyone turned to see what Dumbledore was pointing at. A small table had appeared in front of the Headmaster's table. On it was an outrageously large chalice that seemed to have magical flames burning in it. No one had noticed it before, which was astounding considering the fact that it was enormous for a cup. It had to be half the size of a full grown human. Harry almost laughed from his seat. A little disillusionment and a diversion charm and everyone believed Dumbledore could teleport items.

"I warn you, while I had thought of putting an age restriction on the Goblet; I will leave it up to you whether or not to participate. But remember, these tournaments were last cancelled when all three of the champions perished in the effort. So do not enter unless you truly are ready for the tests. If you are chosen by the Goblet then you have no choice but to participate fully. Is that understood?"

Most everyone in the area were nodding their heads enthusiastically. Truth be told, Dumbledore knew that only a truly outstanding person could be chosen to be a champion and even if a second year decided to throw his name in, the chance of him being picked was next to nothing. Feasibly impossible, really.

"Oh, and a few more things. Because the Triwizard tournament has been reinstated, I have decided to do the same to the Yule Ball. All fourth years and above are allowed to attend unless a younger year is asked to the ball by someone in their fourth or higher year. Your house heads will assist you in getting dress robes. And learning how to dance."

After that comment many of the students couldn't stop talking and looking around. He caught many looks between various students that were sure to mean that the ball would not be empty of couples. And there was more then the fair share of groaning from the boys in the crowd with no female companions. Learning how to dance seemed to be much more fun in the past...

"Ahem." The entire room calmed down a little. "The board outside Mr. Filch's office has been updated with forbidden items." Dumbledore noticed two specific Weasley twins pump their fists. "And the Forbidden Forest is off limits to anyone who wants to avoid a horrible, painful death. Now, enjoy the rest of the feast or head to your common rooms."

* * *

Harry Potter sat in a large soft chair in the Gryffindor common room staring into the fire thinking about the meaning of life.

Actually, that wasn't exactly true. Harry Potter was actually just thinking about the future in general.

_So little time and so much to do. Somehow I need to expose good old Barty for the corpse consumer he is. Luckily Dumbledore solved my problem that I had with Ron this year. I already saw him and half our year put their names in the 'flaming goblet of being annoying'. He can't be jealous this year if he had the chance as well. That will help a lot, I know. What else do I need to do?_

"Harry! Did you put you name in the Goblet? Please say you didn't!"

Harry spun to see Hermione with an embarrassed Ron behind her.

"Ron put his name in, even after I told him not to!"

"Calm down, Hermione…"

"Calm down? Calm down? Why should I do something like that?" Hermione looked like she was about ready to combust. Harry knew it was just out of concern for them then anything, but she really needed to calm down. Harry placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Hermione."

She quieted down, letting him talk for a moment. She was upset and definitely not thinking straight, he could tell. She had probably watched Ron place his name in the Goblet thinking he wouldn't.

What exactly _had_ happened?

"First of all, you are overreacting. The trials that killed the previous champions must have been toned down if they have allowed to reinstate the tournament. Ron isn't going to die."  
Hermione instantly started to blush as red as her friend behind her.

"Second, the chances of any of us being chosen as champion against people like… Cedric, for instance, is next to nil. Besides, I think Ron probably did it because he was just trying to show how brave he is. What Gryffindor wouldn't want to test his metal in such a tournament?"

Ron, from behind Hermione, looked at him gratefully. Hermione appeared to have calmed down a bit, but was still a little huffy over it. Probably more from being ignored by Ron then by the actual action.

"Fine. I'll forgive you this time." She spun and brushed past Ron towards the girl's dorm. Harry noticed that she brushed rather close to Ron, but he didn't notice. When she was out of sight Ron collapsed in the chair next to him.

"Thanks, Harry. I thought I was done for."

"Don't mention it. What were you thinking, by the way?"

"Oh, just what you said! Bravery, manliness, and all that jazz."

"Probably had nothing to do with the fact that Hermione was watching you and you wanted to show off to her, huh?"

Harry was just guessing with that comment, but when Ron shut up and turned an embarrassed, not angry, red, Harry realized he was dead on.

"I guess we know who _you're_ asking to the Yule Ball."

Ron barely managed to sputter a reply.

"Y…yeah? Well, who're you going to take?"

Harry stopped smiling. He knew exactly who he wanted to ask, but if he could was the question…

"Who're you thinking about?" Ron was leaning over with a mischievous smile, and Harry knew that the tables had been turned. It was his time to be teased.

"Someone."

"Who? Do I know her?"

"Not well."

"Is she in our year?"

"No."

"Cho Chang."

"No!"

Harry nearly jumped out of his chair at that. He had a few… interesting encounters with Cho the last time through his life and he knew that she was definitely _not_ for him.

Ron saw Harry shiver. He didn't see what was wrong with the beautiful seeker.

"I'm out of guesses, then."

"Maybe I don't feel like telling."

"But I'm your best mate!" Ron put a fake hurt look on his face. "You already figured out who I… who… who I _might_ like, so let me in on your secret."

Harry sighed. He might as well get it out in the open now… or at least in the privacy of his friendship.

"I know I've only just met her, but there was something about her… maybe it was her eyes." Harry knew that it wasn't just her eyes, but they were a big part. "She's a year lower. I saw her on the train today after my incident. She looked so beautiful… and at dinner as well…"

"You aren't talking about Ginny, are you?" Ron looked scared, like if Harry said yes he would be forced to find a new best mate.

"No."

"Oh, good. But who else…" Ron's face went from relieved to shocked. "Harry, you can't possibly mean…"

"I'm going to ask Luna Lovegood, Ron."

Gasp.

Both of them looked at each other before looking around. No one was near enough to hear them whispering to each other, but both had heard someone gasp in shock. The portrait door was just beginning to swing closed, though…  
They both shrugged and turned back to the conversation.

"Harry, you can't ask…" Ron stopped when he saw the look in Harry's eyes.

"Yes, I can Ron. Don't tell me how crazy she is, or how she dresses. Everyone at this school has there own eccentricities, and hers are just more on the surface. Think about it. You like Hermione, don't deny it because I have pages upon pages of proof. Hermione is a book worm who is obsessive to the point of distraction about her grades because that is the only way she knows at this time to prove to everyone who doesn't know her that she isn't just some weird girl. Granted, a boyfriend might help her relax some, and that is where you come in."

"Me?" Ron almost squeaked out his reply.

"Yes, you. Ron, for every person in this world there is something that they need to find to complete them as a person. When you find it you take it. You know what I mean. For your mother that thing is your dad, and vice versa. For your brothers, at least right now, its each other. For people like Malfoy it's a mirror and a pile of gallons." Ron snickered. "And for you?"

"I… don't know…"

"Me neither, but I have a hunch and I know you do to. That is why I'm going to ask Luna Lovegood to the ball and you are going to invite Hermione."

"But..."

"No 'but's. If you don't some guy from Durmstrang is going to sweep her off her feet."

Ron looked sick.

"Would they really?"

"Yes. Without a doubt. What guy would turn down a beauty like Hermione?"

"Beauty?" Ron regressed to his squeaking again.

"Don't tell me you haven't noticed. Maybe if you ask her nicely to the ball you'll see what I mean."

* * *

Ginny Weasley was running through the halls. It was almost curfew, but she knew she would be able to make it. Her friend never walked very fast and she usually could be found walking a windowed hallway on the long route to the Ravenclaw tower. Her own mind was spinning, but she managed to run straight.

Emotions were conflicting in her, spinning around in a tornado that was changing her.

She had just witnessed a boy she had thought she loved express feelings, or at least the idea of feelings, for one of her friends.

_Harry likes Luna. No, he wants to go to the dance with her. But that means he likes her. It's just a dance. It's a date._

The oddest part about the whole thing was that Ginny couldn't find her own emotions in herself. She couldn't find the near twelve year old crush in her heart. She felt a mixture of excitement and anxiousness. For Luna.

Ginny knew Luna, not as well as she had in previous years but still better than anyone else at this school, and she knew her from long ago. Luna was lonely even if she didn't look it, maybe even if she didn't know it. Luna deserved some good in her life after all she'd been through…

But Ginny was confused, and almost disturbed, that she didn't feel any sadness over the fact that the boy she had a crush on didn't like her.

In fact, she felt liberated.

She felt like she had always sort of envisioned Harry Potter alone as the man for her, and now that he was 'taken'… she could look at everyone else. She had turned down dates before, always because she 'loved' Harry and not because she didn't want to go… It was all a matter of what was expected of her and what she expected of herself. She was 'supposed' to love Harry Potter, and now she shouldn't. Now she could be herself.

Ginny was smiling happily as she jogged towards her friend that had just appeared around the corner. Luna was standing in the evening light shining through the window and looking at the late sunset. She turned only when Ginny stopped.

"Hello Ginny, are you glad to be back?" Luna always seemed to be in a dream like trance when she was happy, like now. Her silver eyes shined and her blonde hair flashed in the late sun. Ginny smiled back at her.

"You bet! I ran all the way here to ask you something, though."

"Hm?"

"Luna, do you remember Harry Potter, from the train?"

"Of course I remember him. He knew about wrackspurts, how could I forget him?" Luna's eyes took on a more clear appearance as worry began to fill them. "Why? I thought he recovered from his sickness…"

"Oh, he did." Ginny was delighted when Luna went back to her normal happy mood.

"That is good. You still have a crush on him, right Ginny?"

"Nope."

Luna had turned back to the window more a moment before she had to swing her face quickly back to face her friend. Ginny just smiled.

"But… I thought…"

"Oh, I got over that a while ago. Besides, I think he likes someone else."

"Oh, ok."

"Do you want to know?"

"Not particularly."

"What did you two do on that train?"

Luna looked at her and gave a slight blush, surprising Ginny. Normally Luna was unshakable emotionally. She would never let her true emotions show. Maybe it was just the teasing nature of Ginny's tone and question that caused some embarrassment, but Ginny wasn't so sure.

The prospects seemed hopeful for Harry.

"He entered my car and passed out. Then when he woke up he sat down."

"Then you had a staring contest that I walked in on. Looking for wrackspurts, eh?"

Luna just gave a dreamy smile.

"He has very pretty eyes…"

Ginny almost squealed in girlish hope.

"… very similar to a female crumpled horned…"

"Luna, do you like Harry?"

Luna went silent. Ginny had asked the question with absolute seriousness. Her smile drifted away slightly.

"Why do you ask?"

"I get the feeling you do."

"I…" Ginny's eyes went wide. Luna not knowing what to say? Impossible.

"You?"

"I… don't know."

And with that, Ginny smirked. Harry had said the same thing. Oh yeah, they liked each other.

"Well, in that case… you should hang around him more."

"What?"

"You won't know if you like him unless you spend time with him. I think it was the camping before the Quidditch World Cup that let me know I don't like Harry like that."

"I wouldn't want to intrude…"

"Nonsense, he knows about wrackspurts, right?"

"Yes…"

"He's a kindred spirit, so he would mind. And if he did, well you know who not to fall in love with, Lovegood."

"But…"

"No 'but's. Besides, the person I think Harry likes… is you."

* * *

Luna stared at Ginny for the longest time, not knowing what to say or if she should walk away or anything. She had just been told that she, Loony Lovegood, might have had a secret admirer and that it might just be the Boy-Who-I-Met-On-The-Train-With-Nice-Eyes. It sounded a little farfetched.

No, not just a little.

Luna had no friends at Hogwarts barring Ginny and the teachers. Just acquaintances and people who thought she was crazy. So she could be forgiven for her being skeptical of this too-good-to-be-true idea. She could believe in nargles, but affection? And affection from a boy, at that?

No, not gonna happen. Not to this Lovegood…

"I'm sure you just heard wrong." Ginny's face turned to a frown. Luna didn't want to say it, but what she thought was impossible. He had only known her for hours, and while that was enough for Luna to want to see those eyes again, it was not enough to suddenly have a crush on them.

Or was it?

"I did not hear wrong. He and Ron were talking about… well, that's a secret. But…"

"Ginny."

"What?"

"Thanks, but what's he chance that he suddenly developed a crush on me with my radish earrings and butter beer bottle cap necklace. He must just think…"

"Wrackspurts, Luna." Ginny was, of course, referring to the fact he knew about them.

Luna sighed. They must be affecting both Ginny and Harry. Oh well, a good night's sleep would clear them away.

"I need to go to my dorm now, Ginny. It was good to see you, but I need to rest."

"At least think about it, Luna. I'm sure I heard right."

"Fine, good night." Luna smiled at her friend one last time before turning and skipping to her common room. Normally, though, her skip would have had more energy in it. She was thinking very hard about the impossibilities of the idea, and not a lot about the possibilities of it being true. Because it there was one thing Luna had learned from life, it was to always assume that the worst was going to happen. If it didn't, you could be pleasantly surprised.


	5. Setup

Chapter 4: Set-up

* * *

Luna Lovegood awoke before the dawn. She always did, no one in hr house knew why. She always was gone before the next person awoke, off wandering aimlessly was what some people thought. In truth, however, she went the same place every day.

The lake outside of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was normally not exactly the most beautiful place, but with the sun rising over the hills…

If there was one thing Luna enjoyed, it was being with nature.

And so now she stood on the edge of the lake, with the sky beginning to turn grey. She was bouncing on one foot then switching to another and humming. To another person it would have appeared as if this girl truly was insane.

But the boy running around the lake knew she wasn't.

Well, at least she wasn't insane in a bad way.

She didn't seem to notice as he slowed his run to a jog and then a walk as he came closer to her. She was just looking out towards where the sun would come up.

Soon the boy was standing beside her.

"Hello."

"Hmmm." Luna just kept humming.

"That's the daily protection song against the snares of the Friggents, isn't it?"

Luna stopped humming and turned. No one could possibly know that. Unless…

"Are you a mind reader?" It was as she turned that she actually saw who was next to her. A smiling Harry Potter.

"No."

"Then how did you know about my daily protection song against the snares of the Friggents?"

Harry seemed to freeze for a moment, a confused look on his face, she thought it was rather… cute.

_Oh no you don't, Lovegood. He is not for you. He's for some beautiful celebrity girl, probably._

"Once, a long time ago, I remember hearing it. I looked it up. The song is more commonly known as Canon in D by Pachabel, but in wizarding legend it was used to protect oneself from the effects of Friggents. Because they are too hyperactive to stand such a peaceful tune."

"That's… right." Luna was very surprised. So surprised, in fact, that she missed the sun rising because she was looking too carefully at the boy next to her. The sun light hit her face and she pun to see it just coming over the horizon.

"Oh! Oh! It's so beautiful!"

She didn't notice the boy next to her smile brightly.

* * *

"_Luna? What are you doing out here? It's four in the morning and the dead of winter!"_

"_Oh, just watching the sun rising, Harry."_

_Harry shook his head. No use arguing with her. Instead he threw his cloak over Luna._

"_Was that Pachabel's Canon you were humming?"_

"_No, of course not. That was the daily protection song against the snares of the Friggents. They cause hyperactivity and distraction, but are driven away by peaceful music."_

"_Oh…"_

"_I love watching the sun rise. It's always so… Oh! Oh! It's so beautiful!"_

"_You say that every day that I've watched it with you. You would think you could miss one day…"_

_Luna shook her head, grabbed his arm, and turned him so he could watch the sun rise as well._

* * *

Harry sighed a little in relief at not being caught. Next time Luna mentioned a creature he would need to pretend he didn't know what it was. She was always intelligent after all. She was a Ravenclaw. She might discover h knew more then he let on. He didn't want to appear to be a stalker or something creepy like that.

Though, if he thought about it, Luna might take it as a complement.

Harry almost snickered at that.

"Harry Potter?"

"Yes, Luna Lovegood."

"Why were you out here this morning?"

Luna had turned from the sun rise and had started to walk away. Harry figured she intended for him to follow. She was always like that, one moment fixated on one thing and the next she was wandering around.

"Well, I was running. I haven't had a year at Hogwarts where someone hasn't tried to kill me."

"That's too bad."

"I know. So I'm getting into better shape so I have a better chance of not dieing this year."

"Sounds like a solid plan. It would be a shame if you died."

"Why?" Harry gave an interior smile as his face showed no emotion. He really just wanted to see what her answer would be. It had been one question he had never asked her last time until it had been too late.

"Is it because I am the boy-who-lived?"

"No, it's because you are Harry Potter." Luna had turned to face him, her hair and eyes shining in the early morning light. Harry's breath was taken away.

"Because…"

"Because you are you, and no one can replace you. If you died, there are people who would miss you and who you would miss. So don't die." Luna gave him a surprising smile before skipping off again towards the school, her blonde hair bouncing behind her still shinning from the sun rise behind them. Harry was stunned for a moment before he quickly followed her. He had to wipe a bit of drool from the side of his mouth as he did so.

_Well, there went that idea about not falling in love._

* * *

Harry was one of the first to the great hall for breakfast. He nearly choked himself by eating at Ron-speed, but he was very grateful for it. The food that was served at Hogwarts was delicious and it brought back good memories of the past… future… whatever. Harry couldn't help but glance every so often at the Ravenclaw table, hoping to catch a certain blonde's eye. Only when Hermione and Ron came down was he forced to stop his fervent glances.

"Harry? Where were you this morning? I thought you had vanished!"

"I… went for a walk."

"A walk? At five in the morning?"

Ron was scooping large piles of food towards himself when he noticed Harry glancing at the Ravenclaw table.

"Wow… you have got it bad, mate."

"Hm? What are you talking about?"

Ron snickered and an evil grin made its way onto his face. Hermione just looked confused.

"Yes, Ron, what are you talking about?"

"Our friend, Harry, is…"

"Don't say it!"

"In love."

Hermione gasped. Harry slammed his head into the table. Luna took a bite of her eggs. Dumbledore ate an early morning lemon drop in his office. Some man in Switzerland ate moldy cheese and vomited. Somewhere in Zanzibar a group of turtles started a rebellion against the government of Australia.

A fly coughed.

"Really? That's great Harry! Who is it?" Hermione looked like she had transformed into a whole new person. Her eyes had this new sparkle to them and she looked eager... too eager... and, frankly, it was frightening.

"No one, drop it. Or, on the other hand, we could talk about who Ron is in love with. Because that it someone that actually exists."

Both Ron and Hermione stopped talking. Ron's face went more red than usual and he turned away from them while Hermione decided it would be a good time to get some food and eat it with her face to the table.

Harry smiled. He remembered how it was last time they were in this phase. And, like last time, he was going to give them crap about it. At least Ron was quiet now. He should know better then to blab his secret to the whole breakfast table. As his friends stared at their plates he took his chance to once again try to catch a glimpse of the girl he had spent the morning with.

_That hair… in the light. And those eyes. And that smile. And… damn, if I can't find something that isn't perfect about her…_

There she was.

Well, the tip of her head, at least. Just his luck to have the tallest kid in Ravenclaw sit between him and Luna. The kid didn't know it, but he was the center of many dangerous thoughts in the mind of a certain scarred wizard. He did shiver once or twice, but chocked it up to a slightly colder beginning of autumn and not killing intent coming from the Gryffindor table.

How wrong he was.

But Harry was a forgiving sort of wizard and somewhere in his mind he recognized that the boy hadn't tried on purpose to block his view of the golden haired goddess.

_Or did he?_

"Harry, have you placed your name in the goblet?"

Harry spun to notice Hermione who had just asked him a question. It was an obvious attempt to change the subject from Ron's love interests, but Harry accepted it. The truth was that he hadn't thought about the massive cup. Someone else had placed his name in last time.

"Ah, I don't know. I haven't yet." Ron looked up from his plate.

"You should do it soon. The deadline is tomorrow."

"And then potentially set myself up for another dangerous event? I have enough trouble every year without placing myself in it. You both can attest to that."

"Aha! I knew it was dangerous! You told me it wasn't last night." Hermione looked slightly smug at her mental victory. It was a trait she would only lose when she had her first case of 'being-right-and-not-wanting-to-be', when she predicted an attack on Hogwarts. The one that ended in the deaths of almost all their friends.

"No, I said it wasn't deadly. But with all the trouble I get into already, I'll probably stick with that. Maybe if I really feel like it, I'll put my name in, but I have this gut feeling that if I do…"

"You'll get chosen."

"Right."

"Well with your luck, mate, it is very possible."

_You have no idea._

* * *

The first days classes were boring for Harry, to say the very least. He had spent plenty of time studying the practical uses of nearly every subject that he was now reviewing. Subjects like divination and history? Those were boring anyway. Harry found his most difficult issue being holding himself back. In transfiguration he did the assigned work flawlessly and silently. He was very lucky no one had been watching or that would have raised some questions about how he suddenly could perform the spells silently.

Potions was the greatest surprise.

Snape had started out with his normal snotty behavior that caused everyone to hate him, and he still seemed to hold a grudge against Harry. But when Harry made his potion perfectly and silently, and even turned in a three foot scroll of notes on the exact principles and effects of his potion, Snape was almost shocked into dropping his jaw.

"Mr. Potter, since when did you start deciding to actually dedicate yourself to working?" The man said it to him to get a rise out of him, but Harry knew why now. He wouldn't find out until near the end of the war in the future, but Snape had a very good reason for acting like he did. So, in return to his snide remark, Harry smiled.

"It seemed like a noble profession to me."

Snape did drop his jaw on that one.

Even now, as the day came to a close and Harry sat in front of the Gryffindor fireplace, he had to laugh at it. Granted, Ron thought he had once again gone insane, but he was just going to have to accept that it was a 'good' kind of insane.

Harry had his map out, and was observing a few important names.

One was old Crouch Junior, who had probably just placed his name in the goblet. Harry had to sigh at that. He really didn't feel like doing all those trials again. Granted, they could be done so much easier now that he knew spells that could completely incapacitate dragons, cause him to be able to breathe and move quickly underwater, and a multitude of fire spells and defensive spells. But, it was necessary to get this over with. After all, he couldn't kill old Tom until he came back from the dead first.

The second name, the one he was watching not as closely because it made him feel like a stalker, was the name Luna Lovegood. It seemed to wander the halls aimlessly, but always seemed to end up closer to the Ravenclaw dorms. More then once her footsteps would spin around in circles for a minute before continuing, sometime stumbling back they way they came from.

Harry could just imagine Luna skipping and spinning down the halls getting dizzy.

He almost didn't notice the three names on a converging path with her.

_Draco Malfoy and his minions. What would they be doing…_

It there was one thing Harry Potter knew it was that his name was Harry Potter. If there were two things he knew it would be the first thing and the fact that you can never trust a Malfoy.

Harry glanced around him before sweeping the invisibility cloak in his hands over his body and making his way out the door.

He ran quickly to where he knew the four would meet. Luckily it wasn't far away at all and he actually made it before they reached it. Just your average two hallway convergence. One was lined with windows and Harry could see the dancing Luna come down towards him. The other was darker and lined with the suits of armor that were all over the castle. The three stooges were coming down that one. Harry was surprised the stupid and ugly one didn't trip over his own two feet and destroy a suit of armor.

_Which one's the stupid and ugly one?_

Harry almost laughed out loud at his joke before he realized how sad that would be.

And by the time he realized that, the three groups had been joined. Harry, under his clock of invisibility, Luna with her happy-go-lucky attitude that seemed to brighten the halls, and the Malfoy Militia, complete with meat shields and a delusional commander.

"Well, look who we have here." Normally Harry would take that as a rhetorical device, but with the intelligence of the two people following him they probably needed to be told to do that or they might have not noticed Luna. "It seems a little bird is too far away from her nest."

Harry snickered as Luna decided to keep skipping down the hall, completely ignoring the three people. At least, she tried. She was forced to stop as Malfoy reached his arm out and grabbed her arm. Luna spun as if just noticing him.

"Yes?"

"You're in the wrong section of the castle, girl. To get past our territory, you'll need to pay the fine." Malfoy was trying his best to intimidate her, but it wasn't happening. On the other hand, his actions was working wonders on Harry.

"Malfoy, you have two seconds to remove your hand from her arm or I will remove your hand from _your_ arm."

All four people spun to see Harry Potter with his wand pointed at Draco, whose hand immediately released Luna. They were only feet apart and Harry had already slightly lowered his wand, but Malfoy felt like he was still just barely avoiding death. The look in Harry's eyes was unlike any Draco had ever seen. The malice in them outranked the hate he saw in his father's eyes when he talked about Harry.

Never let it be said that a Malfoy was ever frightened.

Never let it be said, that is, but they are, in fact, very scared quite often.

And, oh, he was scared.

"Now, Malfoy, I would suggest you find a different path to walk to get back to your dorms. There isn't anything in this area of interest to slime balls like you."

Malfoy was sweating.

"A…and why should I do that, P… Potter?"

A stutter? That was not like a pureblood. His words were normally clear and confident, these seemed to Draco like his last words...

"Because if you don't…" Harry finished his statement by waving his wand towards a suit of armor on the wall behind them.

It dissolved in three seconds leaving only a steaming pool of metal where it had once stood.

"I might find new targets for my wand."

Crabb and Goyle stared with wide eyes and mouths at the puddle that had once been a suit of armor. Malfoy ignored it, but that was only because he was sprinting down the hall. Harry almost laughed as he saw a slight bit of moisture on the ground where the bastard had been standing. His two minions quickly followed, leaving him alone with Luna. She just pulled her wand from behind her ear.

"_Finite Incantatem!"_

With her spell the suit of armor was instantly back to the way it had been before. Harry smiled a little before walking up to her.

"I see at least you aren't fooled by small illusions."

"Thank you."

"Hm?"

"Thank you for getting rid of them. Though you were slightly violent."

Luna had turned to look him in the eyes. She was lightly holding her arm, which with her natural pale complexion would probably bruise from the rough treatment. Harry just smiled back at her.

"Don't worry about it. Malfoy is an ass, pure and simple. And a stupid ass at that. He's a coward at heart."

"Yes… I know." For some reason his statement had not improved her mood. Her smile had become slightly sad. "I guess that makes me even more of a coward for not standing up to someone like him."

"Never. That makes you Luna Lovegood."

She glanced into his face again, only to find strength and kindness. No disappointment or disrespect. He just smiled.

"But…"

"Luna, you aren't a coward. Sometimes I wonder…" He paused. He shouldn't continue, it would reveal too much. "… hey, have you had dinner?"  
For the first time in his life he was pleased to see that he had just surprised the mistress of surprise herself. Luna only barely managed to stutter out a 'yes'.

"Well, do you want to get something to eat anyway?"

"Alright."

"Good, come with me then."

* * *

They soon found themselves in front of a rather empty section of wall that had suddenly developed a door. Harry could think back to all the great times he had had in this room. Teaching, studying, sleeping, and just relaxing.

If there was any place to just go and spend time it was the Room of Requirement.

Luna seemed to be completely unphased by the sudden appearance of a door where there had been none moments before. In fact, she turned and smiled at Harry when it appeared.

"I always knew there was a door there, but no one could find it. How did you find the door?"

"All I did was accidentally pass in front of it three times while thinking really hard about something. This room gives you what you need."

Now Luna had been noticing some very interesting things about Harry Potter, the boy-with-really-pretty-eyes. Most of them had to deal with him knowing a great deal more then he seemed to be able to know. But Luna was an accepting person, and if he decided to hide his abilities from the world, she could play along.

_That's not all I would play along with…_

Luna walked into the room and stopped in shock. Not from the view, as Harry would have though, but from her own mind.

_Where in all of heaven's name did that come from?_

The room was, indeed, amazing. Luna had always thought it was just a lost broom closet. Instead, what it contained was anything. Right now it was decorated in all sorts of pastel colors, had a moonlit sky charmed into the ceiling, and a table with something warm to drink next to the fireplace.

Granted, she had not been thinking of the warm drinks or table, but the colors and moon were her idea.

She spun around to get a full view of the place. It wasn't big or small. It was just a room. A room that could be whatever she wanted it to be…

"Harry…"

"Yes, you can use it. It isn't mine. It's Hogwart's. However, don't let anyone else know. This room could be used for other purposes then good." Luna spun to smile at him mischievously with a gleam in her eyes.

"How do you know I'm not one of those people?"

Instead of thinking about it or having the slightest hesitation, Harry just smiled at her. Like… like he knew something special.

"Oh, I don't think I'll have to worry about that. But just incase… I'll drug your drinks with pepper-up potion."

"Most people think I'm already pepper enough."

"Most people think I'm a hero for something I didn't consciously do as a baby."

"Touché."

Luna spun over and took a seat. It was hot chocolate with whipped crème on top from the looks of it. Fresh and hot. She stared at it a moment before looking over at the boy that had just sat across from her and was drinking black coffee.

_Harry Potter, what are you hiding? I love hot cocoa… but I never have it unless it's daddy making it. No one knows I like hot cocoa…_

Luna took a sip, and then set the cup down. It wasn't real. It couldn't be real. It must have been the amazing changing room's idea of a joke.

"This is delicious!"

"That's good."

_How did they get it right? No one makes it like daddy… but this tastes exactly like his!_

The boy across from her just smiled and drank his coffee.

_Harry Potter, either you are the luckiest boy I have ever met, which is possible, or you should take more divination classes._

"Thank you for this, Harry."

"Don't mention it, Luna. You can come here anytime, just…"

"Just what?"

"Just remember to tell me when you want to get something to drink."

Harry then set his own cup down and looked over at her before having to hold back a laugh. Luna just stared at him with her head slightly cocked.

"What?"

Harry didn't say anything, he just handed her a mirror that magically appeared in his hand. She had a rather large white whipped crème mustache.

"Well, I can't say much for the color, but the thickness is rather impressive." And that comment sent Harry over the edge. Luna had to stare as Harry Potter nearly died with laughter. It caused her to stare, then giggle, and then they were laughing together. It only stopped when Harry got back into his chair and wiped a tear from his eye.

"Luna, I don't know why I never met you before this year."

"It was probably because you never had a bad case of magical core imbalance." She thought for a moment he would be shocked that she knew what his problem had been, but he wasn't. Or maybe he just didn't notice.

"Maybe… but that's behind us. Luna…"

"Yes?" She took another drink from her cup. For the first time in her life she was actually feeling comfortable sitting with a boy alone, except her father of course. She was laughing and having a good time. And he didn't think she was strange. Or at least didn't say it out loud. It could be a trick, but…

_His eyes don't look like the eyes of a mean person._

"Luna, do you want to go to the Yule Ball with me?"

* * *

DUH DUH DUUUUH!

So, finals are now and I shouldn't have spent time writing this, but next time I update will be in January. Merry Christmas! An thanks for your reviews. This is my gift to you, your gifts to me are reviews.


	6. The Reply

I don't know how many people reading this actually care... but I plan to update at least one chapter on one of my stories a week. Which ever I feel like, so if I go three weeks without updating this story specifically, don't give up on me.

Oh, and Chaos might be back. I finally got an idea for the next chapter... it really is unlike anything I've done before. Much more serious and deep... or I like to think so.

* * *

Chapter 5: The Reply

* * *

Luna Lovegood stared at the person in front of her with her big silverish eyes that always seemed to give people the creeps. It was always like she was looking right though you, not at you. Many times in her life she had used this technique to get out of troublesome situations, like a person trying to put her down or just talking with a person who she knew was just talking to her because they pitied her. But this time she was using it for a different reason. She didn't mean to use it at all, really.

Harry Potter had just asked her to a ball.

Now, any other girl in the school on most days would either immediately say yes or think about it for a few seconds and then say yes. The rumors were that he was very rich and never spent a dime on himself. The only money he spent, according to the rumors, was for necessities and for his friends. These rumors had, at one point, caused a lot of people to suddenly want to be his friends, aka. Draco Malfoy. But these frauds were soon, instantaneously in some cases, shown for who they were and Harry never associated with them. To be one of Harry Potter's true friends was, in Luna Lovegood's opinion, to be in an elite group.

It was how she considered all groups of friends, but Harry Potter's especially. Being friends with a celebrity was difficult at times, or so she assumed it would be if she ever had a celebrity friend.

But that was what this was all about, wasn't it.

Harry Potter just asked her to a ball.

He wanted to spend time with her.

Was he asking to be her friend? Or... more?

_What is he doing? What are the actual chances that he means what he says? Why me? I always thought of Harry Potter as sort of a nice person, but I never got close enough to find out…_

_What if it is just some joke Ronald Weasley put him up to, a prank like the kinds he pulled on me when we were kids?_

_That is the more logical reason, isn't it?_

_But… he could be telling the truth. He knows about nargles, and friggents, and other creatures… and he doesn't act like everyone else does around me, like I'll suddenly snap and start cursing people at any second._

_But he only just met me! It would make more sense if it was some sort of prank, a dare or something…_

_Maybe he really likes me..._

_Now _that_ is not a logical reason. _

_It could happen…_

_In my dreams..._

Luna Lovegood couldn't remember the last time she had made a new friend. She couldn't remember when she had more friends then just Ginny. She couldn't remember a time when a boy did anything but stare in confusion at her. Or malice. In fact, she had made it her unspoken but conscious goal to never let anyone else into her life. She hadn't actually opened up to anyone since…

But that was not something she wanted to think about.

_Well, I could just look him in the eyes to try to see what he's thinking, but he could be a great actor. Or I could just stare at him like this until he gives up and goes away. Or I could just ask him._

"Why?"

While Luna had been thinking for the last five minutes, Harry's face had gone from a happy look to one more serious. There was… worry in his eyes?

_Is he worried I'll say 'no'? Or is he worried I'll say 'yes', and it was all just a prank to ask me to the ball. A dare._

"Why… am I asking you?"

"Yes."

Harry seemed to relax a little bit at that. She couldn't think of a reason why he would do that.

"Well… I guess it is because I… I think you are… I enjoy your company."

That was a safe answer. It revealed nothing about his reasons. He could enjoy her company for other reasons then charitable ones.

_What are you up to, Harry Potter? Why ask me when you could ask anyone? Why... why can't you just leave me alone? I don't want to take any risks with my emotions. It's the only part of me that can't survive being broken. I don't need any more friends and I don't want them._

_If I don't take any risks…_

_I won't be hurt._

"Luna…"

Luna looked into his eyes again. He wanted to say something more?

"Luna, I'm not asking you because I pity you."

_Huh?_

"I'm not asking you because of a stupid prank or dare. And I am not asking you because I want to hurt you in any way, shape, or form. I am asking you because… because I think you are an amazing person who I would like to go to the Yule Ball with. There is no other reason that I would ask anyone."

And as Harry looked into her eyes she saw it. For just a moment she glimpsed something she had only seen once. It had been in her father's eyes that horrible night when her mother had the accident. It was the same look he had given the doctor when he had come out of the operating room.

It was desperation. Harry had an incredibly deep desire for her to say 'yes'. No, He didn't just desire it.

Harry looked like he _needed_ her to say 'yes'.

Just like her father had needed that Doctor to say everything would be fine.

"I wish you were easier to understand, Harry Potter."

"I wish I could better explain myself to you, but I can't. But it just isn't…" His eyes drifted away before they came back and what he was about to say had been forgotten.

"You're hot chocolate is getting cool."

"I know."

They just stared at each other. Luna's eyes were unreadable, and Harry's showed only a bit of worry. He had learned to hide his emotions well. Time stretched into minutes.

_He is serious. He really wants to take me to the ball. What now? I have never even thought of going anywhere with a boy. Most of the time I'm just trying to get everyone away from me. But he's different. He watched the sunrise with me and… I don't feel an urge to push him away. What do I do?_

_Say 'yes'._

"Yes."

Harry looked surprised, and so did Luna. She hadn't meant to just blurt that out. She didn't even know if she wanted to go!

"Yes, you'll go?"

"Yes."

Harry was too excited to notice, but Luna's eyes were wider then usual. She was surprised by the words coming out of her own mouth.

"That's great! I promise you, I won't mess this up."

It was funny, but Luna could swear he was inferring that he had messed up a date with her before…

* * *

Harry Potter considered skipping back to the Gryffindor dorms, but passed when he saw it was long past curfew. Instead he had taken Luna back to her own dormitory under his cloak of invisibility. It was a very interesting trip, being that even he had never found a way to enlarge the cloak. For some reason he enjoyed the trip to her dorm even more then the one to his own.

Filch was quite surprised when a loud cry of 'Yes!' echoed down the corridors all throughout the castle.

When Harry arrived back at his room he was fully ready to just go to bed and sleep off the nervous energy and adrenaline rush that had come with his question and Luna's answer.

_I can't believe it! It really worked out. I was worried she would get too suspicious when I used her father's secret formula for hot chocolate, but it worked the way I planed. She said 'yes'. She actually agreed to go to the dance with me! This is great! I mean, before I actually asked I wasn't too worried about receiving any response at all, but when she just stared at me I got pretty anxious. I really wanted her to say yes, a lot more then even I thought I wanted…_

"Harry, what the hell do you think you are doing?"

Harry had just entered his room and was getting prepared to sleep when he noticed a few things. One, he was no longer under his cloak of invisibility. Two, Ron Weasley was standing a few feet away staring at him.

"Huh?"

"That's my line, mate. What are you doing staring into space with the big star-struck eyes while trying to put your pants on like a shirt? And I've been calling your name for at least thirty seconds!"

Harry turned his head and saw that, indeed, it was his sleeping pants that were on his right arm.

"Harry, are you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine, just got back from…"

"From?"

"Asking Luna to the Yule Ball."

Ron stared at him wide eyed. Harry put his pants on the right way as the Weasley attempted to speak.

"Al… already?"

"Of course, why?"

"I was thinking of asking… someone… around Halloween or sometime…"

"Don't do that? Do it as soon as possible or the good girls will be taken!" Harry smirked. Both Ron and Harry knew exactly who the girl he wanted was.

"I… might. Anyway, what did she say? I should be able to tell from your face, but…"

"She said 'yes'."

Ron actually looked a little happy for his friend, which was something he hadn't expected. The first time he had even mentioned Luna to Ron in the last life, Ron had nearly gone berserk. Apparently Ron had played some pranks on Luna when then were children, mainly to get her to react to him. In a family of a whole hell of a lot of children, Ron was always seeking attention. From anyone. Ron was the first to admit he was out of line when he pulled those pranks as a kid, but Luna had never even reacted to any of them! He claimed she must have been batty. He absolutely hit her dead on with a gallon of water and she just kept walking as if she had not felt a thing. His pranks were usually just that innocent, but Ron insisted that they showed that Luna must be loony.

That had been one of the few times Harry had punched Ron. They hadn't spoken for almost 2 weeks before Ron admitted he was wrong and was willing to give Luna a chance as one of their more close friends.

"You know what, Harry?" Ron had a smile on his face, but it was only slightly mischievous.

"What?"

"This has to be the first time I've ever seen you like this. All… in love like."

"Love?" Harry almost tripped as he walked to his bed.

"Yeah. So even if you're in love with Luna Lovegood, it's fine with me cause you are happy, right?"

Harry sighed. Ron had a lot to learn about tact and who to word things in less insulting manors, but Harry had learned long ago when to see that Ron was trying to show he cared.

"Thanks Ron, I appreciate it. You should give her a chance, she's a different person then most people think. Speaking of love, though, how is Hermione?"

Harry didn't even need to turn around to know Ron was blushing as he rushed to his own bed next to Harry's.

"I… I'm not in love!"

"And I'm Draco Malfoy."

"What was that?"

"Good night, Indy Nile."

"WHAT?"

"You know, you're in denial? Indy Nile? Get it?"

Harry only heard silence from Ron's bed and could just picture the boy with his jaw hanging open, nearly dead from his horrible pun. It was one of his favorite, if less lethal, attacks in the future/past war. But his mind did not stray to his previous future this night. This night he dreamed of only one thing.

Luna Lovegood.

This Luna Lovegood.

* * *

Luna, on the other hand, was not sleeping well at all. Granted, it wasn't an uncommon occurrence for her to not go to sleep immediately, but when she wanted to sleep she would.

Right now, though, she was considering using stupefy on herself just to fall asleep.

She had just told Harry Potter she would go to the Yule Ball with him.

She had, for the first time in many years, actually accepted an invitation to a social event.

_Oh no! What should I wear?_

Luna shot up in bed suddenly, her eyes wide and her mouth wide open.

_Where the hell did that come from? I haven't worried about what I wear in my whole life! Now I just suddenly want to dress to impress?_

_Impress? Impress who?_

_Augh!_

Luna slammed her head back into her pillows. Her mind was acting up and it made no sense to her why.

_Why do I start acting like this now? Why, when I have lived my life free of worries about what others think, do I now care about what one boy thinks of me?_

_A nice boy…_

_I need to relax. Calm down._

Luna took a deep breath.

_I said yes, but if he does something between now and then I won't feel bad about calling it off. I'll just get Ginny's opinion on what to wear if it really means that much to me. I have plenty of time, the Yule Ball is just before Christmas, after all._

Luna decided that her mind would need to be appeased by that, and closed her eyes.

Only to open them a few moments later when she was forced to release the air she had taken in to calm down.

_I'm so flustered I forgot to exhale!_

* * *

The next day sucked, pure and simple, for Harry Potter.

He slept in because he had stayed up late, nearly missing breakfast. He stared off into space thinking of what to do now that Luna had said yes, and for it had put himself on the bad side of half the professors, and the more bad of the sides of Snape. Lunch had rolled around and he lost his appetite from a failed potion, not his own because his own was passable even in his near unconscious state, from potions class, so he missed one of his favorite meals. Then another round of classes, all of which he tried his hardest to concentrate on, but only managed to cause Professor Trelawney to think he might have the gift of future sight with the way he was constantly staring into space.

Then came dinner.

And the announcement of the Triwizard Champions.

Or, should he say Quadwizard Chapions?

_I guess I haven't changed time enough to have gotten out of this one…_

Right now Harry was sitting at the Gryffindor table with the entire school, and two other schools, staring at him. Hermione wore the same look of shock she wore the first time this happened, this time Ron looked about to laugh. He mouthed the words 'called it' to him and chuckled. At least they would remain friends through out this year, then.

Now, if the entire hall wasn't so silent...

And staring at him.

Damn their stares.

Harry simply got up and went to the front and stood in front of the gawking audience along with the other champions. He gave the stupid flaming cup a death glare and he could have swore it glinted at him mischievously.

"Well, I do believe this is a first." Dumbledore had seemed to regain his senses and was now trying to appease those who were staring at Harry in anger or jealousy. "The goblet of fire is a magically binding contract, so it does appear as if we will have four champions for this championship."

Murmurs broke out. But this time, instead of leaving them to their rumors and taking Harry aside, Dumbledore did something not even Harry had suspected.

"Silence!"

Instantly, with one magically enhanced command, Dumbledore had the attention of every student in the room and the teachers.

"This has nothing to do with who the champions are. If any of you doubt my ruling, refer to your History of Magic class texts, or the excellent publication _Hogwarts: A History_. The Goblet of Fire is a magically binding contract with those who place their names in it. If it chooses the names of no one or everyone that placed their names in the cup, then those people are required to follow through with the Triwizard tournament, become a squib, or die."

Gasps were heard throughout the room.

"Did you think it was merely the fancies of an old man when I said that if you were chosen you would have no choice but to participate? If you fail to participate in all three tests then your magic core will be drained and you will become a squib, simply put." He looked to each of the champions. "You all knew this, am I correct?"

Harry nodded, and saw that the only student to not nod had been Digory. He looked a little pale, but Harry could see his resolve to see this to the end, and win if he could.

_Don't worry, Cedric, I won't let a repeat of last time happen. If I have to take the cup by myself, then so be it._

Dumbledore once more addressed the student bodies.

"If you think I am giving special treatment to any persons by 'allowing' them to 'participate', then keep in mind that the penalty for willfully participating in the draining of a wizard's or witch's magical core is punishable by life in Azkaban or the dementor's kiss. Then think twice about going against my decision."

Everyone was staring bug-eyed at Dumbledore now, even Harry. He had just done the equivalent of threatening anyone who dared disagreed with his decision to let four students participate in the Triwizard tournament with a painful execution. Dumbledore's eyes were shinning with a mixture of determination and resolve, and maybe some anger.

But, just as quickly as his mood change had come, it was done. Dumbledore smiled again and his eyes twinkled.

"But I'm sure there won't be any problems whatsoever. I would encourage you all to support your schools champions though out the tournament, the first task of which will come up in a few months. As a side note, your house heads will be providing mandatory dancing lessons for the fourth through seventh years. Lower years are allowed to join if they so desire. Once more, congratulations to our four Champions. And good luck."

Dumbledore started a round of applause that spread through the great hall.

It looked like the whole button fiasco wouldn't occur this time. But that was probably too much to hope for.

Harry managed to catch a glimpse of a figure with blonde hair staring at him. He smiled and waved at her. Anybody else probably would have just decided to ignore him, because now there were quite a few people in her area trying to find out exactly who Harry Potter was waving to at the Ravenclaw table.  
But Luna Lovegood was not anybody else.

She waved back and her smile brightened. This was both a good and bad choice.

It was simple logic really.

Luna Lovegood, the 'crazy' in Hogwarts, was waved to by Harry Potter.

She waved back.

To everyone else, this instantly became a more important story then any tournament. Loony Lovegood and Harry Potter knew each other and had waved in a friendly manner to one another. But no, that is not an exciting story so people decided to 'enhance what they saw and knew'.

By the next morning the entire school 'knew' that Luna and Harry were dating and probably thinking of getting engaged.

And Snape wondered why Harry Potter was smashing his head into his potions table _before_ he even arrived to class.

* * *


	7. Complicated

AN:N Its been a while, but I've had these written a while as well. School... don't do it.

* * *

Chapter 6: Complicated

* * *

"Harry Potter."

"What?"

"Would you please explain to me why you are constantly slamming your head into your desk?"

"Because... I have a headache."

Severus Snape was having a rather confusing first few weeks of classes. First, the Potter boy actually shows him real respect. Then he shows up at class and starts doing exceptionally well at everything. He wasn't making mistakes at all, no matter what Snape tried to confuse him with.

In the end it was Potter that confused him instead. Instead of deciding to make a large deal of this incident, which Snape would have usually done under most circumstances, he just shook his head and continued to the front of class. Now, normally his class would be in such utter fear and respect for him that the moment he entered the classroom it would be silent.

Severus liked it that way.

But as he started a piece of chalk writing the instructions of the day on the board with a simple enchantment, he noticed that it wasn't silent.

Two girls in the middle of the room were whispering. As if he couldn't hear.

"What? You must be joking."

"I'm serious! I heard it straight from Susan, and she heard it from Judy, who heard it from some girl in the bathroom, who said she heard it from Cho Chang, who's in her house!"

"But Harry Potter and Loony Lovegood?"

Snape's control on the chalk fell with his concentration. Harry gave his head another good whack.

_Harry Potter and the Lovegood? Granted it sounds like a rumor blown way out of proportion, but if this is true…_

_It explains the head-banging. But more importantly…_

Snape smiled. No, he didn't sneer, it wasn't a grimace, and it wasn't even an emotionless facial expression, which was about as pleasant as Snape ever got.

A cold chill went down the backs of the potions class as Severus Snape smiled an actual smile.

Had he finally snapped?

Had his brain gone so far into negativity that it went back to the positives?

No.

Severus Snape smiled because he was happy.

* * *

Harry Potter sat at lunch in the middle of a crowd yet he was pretty much alone. People all around him whispered and chatted, every so often a few would glance at him, but if he returned the stares they instantly went back to whispering in close huddles.

_I hate this. Stupid destiny and fate and luck and everything else that causes me so much grief all the time._

_Except when they bring me something good…_

He glanced once more across the room to the Ravenclaw table where he could just barely see a blond flash every once and a while. He had to admit though, going through the rumors and being the outcast again was a lot better then living a life void of any friends whatsoever.

Ron was beside him, eating his fill of the food as usual. Harry had once considered telling his first real friend that his eating habits were not quite up to snuff, but then realized that it didn't matter in the least and that he wouldn't change that about Ron at all.

Harry glance once more at his plate that was all but empty. He really liked the food, just… sometimes it triggered memories he didn't want brought up. Or sometimes, like today, it was just something he didn't really feel hungry for.

He poked his blob of potatoes with a spoon for a while before, once again, glancing up to see if he could catch a glimpse of…

"Harry."

Harry almost jumped out of his seat. Hermione sat down across from the two. Ron, thankfully, swallowed before saying hello. Harry sat there holding his hand over his heart like he had just had heart failure. Ron passed over more chicken in order to speak, mainly because Hermione did not look very happy with Harry at the moment.

"Hermione, how were your classes today? I noticed potions went really well…"

"Ron, you sit by me in nearly all my classes and we aced our potion."

"Right. Just trying to… avoid… the awkward… silence… a little… longer…"

And there it was. A few moments later Harry decided to jump into the lioness' den.

"Well, that was a good one. What's on your mind, Hermione?"

Hermione flipped her hair over her shoulder with her hand in a vain attempt to seem more nonchalant.

"Why would you think something is on my mind, Harry?"

"Because your left hand is constantly moving, a sign that you're nervous. You just flipped your hair back, you want to ignore the issue, whatever it is. And you're now giving me a death glare for correctly reading your habits. Right?"

Harry had his eyes closed as he predicted Hermione's actions. Ron just stared in awe before nodding as Harry opened his eyes.

"You have got to teach me how to do that…"

"Enough! You can be so aggravating, Harry Potter."

"I know. But you want to ask me something and you weren't going to ask it. Instead, you were going to let it stew inside of you, bubbling and festering, until your couldn't hold it in any longer. By then you would likely be angry with me because I didn't come outright and tell you what you wanted to know when I didn't know you wanted to know it."

Hermione just stared at him for a moment. Then, miraculously, decided to just go with it instead of arguing the point.

"Is it true, about you and…"

Instantly everyone within earshot of Hermione spun to look at Harry and silence reigned in the section of the table. Harry sighed and almost decided to slam his head into the table again, but instead just looked at Hermione.

"Is what true, about me and who?"

"Is it true that you are…" She almost choked on the next word. "Dating… Luna Lovegood?"

"What is dating?"

"Huh?"

"Define the terms for me, Hermione. What is dating?"

"Spending time with each other."

"So… you and Ron are dating?"

She blushed, as did Ron.

"In a more intimate setting."

"Like… siblings?"

Hermione sighed.

"Harry, you know what I mean."

"Yes, I do. No, we are not dating. No, I have not asked her to marry me. No, I have never gone off to a broom closet with her." It had been one of the more common rumors that day. "But I do think she is a wonderful person and someone I would like to be our friend."

Hermione almost sighed in relief.

"I heard the most horrible rumor last period…"

"Rumors are rumors, Hermione. Don't believe a word of it."

"I didn't! I was just hoping… you could clear it up for me."

Hermione finally sat down to eat with an embarrassed look on her face. Harry didn't blame her, he couldn't really. Hermione was all about facts, and if she heard information that contradicted her facts she needed to disprove them or change what she thought of as fact. As she stacked her plate, Harry noticed that the people around them had gone back to their own lunches. Most were now talking about other things then his love life.

_Good._

"Am I really that easy to read?"

"No. But as your friend, I have practice."

"So… there is nothing going on between you and Luna?"

"Well… I didn't say 'nothing'…"

Instantly the ears and eyes turned his way again. Harry glared back at them before continuing. He knew he needed to be discrete with his words. The wrong phrase would put a lot of pressure on both him and Luna.

"I merely asked if she would go to the Yule Ball with…"

Bam. Instantly Harry could feel the information get passed along the gossip lines of Hogwarts. Without a doubt every ghost, painting, and person would know Harry Potter was going to a dance with Luna Lovegood by dinner. Harry almost hit himself. That was not the right phrase to say.

Hermione just looked at him with a strange look in her eyes, like she was sizing him up or something.

"What?"

"Do you know anything about how to treat a girl?"

Harry slammed his head into the table. Ron laughed a little, but was trying to keep his head out of Hermione's range. Harry struck back.

"So, Hermione, anyone asked you yet?"

She looked genuinely confused.

"Ask me what?"

"To the Yule Ball."

Ron blushed and took a vicious bite of chicken in response. Hermione stared at her plate with a red face.

"No…"

"Well, I've heard that Victor Krum has had his eyes out for you recently."

Hermione blushed again, deeper. Ron was attacking his chicken like it had insulted his mother. Harry smiled. Hey, if he couldn't get away from the stupid rumor machine, he was at least going to make his friends suffer a bit in return.

* * *

Luna's day wasn't going much better, but not much worse either. She went to classes like normal, but instead of being ignored she was stared at and whispered about. She ignored them, of course, but it was unnerving to be the center of attention.

And not positive attention, either.

Guys were looking at her in ways she didn't want them to. Girls either stared at her in disgust, probably jealous of her stylish radish earrings and glow-in-the-light socks, or anger, probably because they were mistaking her for someone else.

Luna just tried to last through the day until Potions came around. It was a really strange class. Normally Professor Snape would be angry due to a horrible case of head wumps, but today he actually smiled. He even smiled directly at her. And gave her top marks on her potion, which deserved top marks as always but had rarely received before.

Luna blamed the nargles. There seemed to be a rather large quantity in Hogwarts this year.

Lunch was nice, just like a normal lunch except instead of being ignored, everyone seemed to be focused on her but keeping away. Except the other side of the hall, they were focused on Harry.

_You would think that out of the hundreds of people going to this school, not including the guests, that they could find some other subject matter then the boy-with-nice-eyes._

Even the people from the other two schools seemed to be getting in on the school gossip chain. Of course, Harry Potter was world renown. But she couldn't understand why they seemed to be equally staring at her. It wasn't until later that day, after transfiguration, when a girl from Gryffindor accidentally stuck her foot out in front of her, that she found out why.

Luna was never one to let a good fall go to waste, so as she tripped she threw her books in the air and twisted to land on her back. A very dramatic landing, especially when she probably could have just stumbled a bit and kept going. But Luna always did enjoy a good fall.

"Oops, sorry. I guess I should watch where I'm going." The girl was obviously using sarcasm, but responding to sarcasm was Luna's specialty.

"Yes, you should. Never know when a hole in the ground might open up. You might have fallen into an alternate dimension."

The girl gave her a look of disgust before answering.

"Whatever, Lovegood. Don't think we don't know what you're doing."

"Who's we?"

"The other girls who have been after him much longer then you."

Now Luna was really confused. This girl was weird.

"Him?"

"Harry Potter! You're trying to steal HARRY POTTER! Well, we won't let that happen. We just started the anti-Luna/Harry relationship club."

"Can I be a part? I've never been in a club."

"NO!"

The girl then stomped her foot, turned her face a Gryffindor red, and walked off. Luna just stared at the ceiling, still on her back from the fall, in confusion.

_So that's why everyone was looking at me. Somehow it got out that he asked me to the Yule Ball and now every wizard-idol worshiper in Hogwarts must want my head. What kind of crazy people would think that? It's just a single dance. Not even a date. Just a one night dance thing…_

_Why do I make myself sound like I want more?_

Luna lay on her back a little longer until she was surprised by a familiar, but largely unknown, face appearing above her.

"Luna Lovegood?"

"Hermione Granger?"

"Why are you on your back with your books all over the hallway?"

Luna was surprised by her lack of animosity. In fact, Hermione seemed to be genuinely worried about her.

"I tripped."

Hermione looked down in confusion for a few seconds before helping her to her feet. A quick accio and all her things were once again in her arms.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it… uh." Hermione definitely wanted to ask something more.

"Yes?"

"Um… Harry mentioned that he asked you to the Yule Ball…"

"Did he?" Luna smiled a little.

"Yes… he did, right?"

"Oh yes."

"Oh. Well, ok then."

Silence.

_Hermione really needs to learn to speak what's on her mind._

"Anything else?"

Luna cocked her head to the side a bit. She knew that Hermione wasn't done, but if she didn't have the courage to say it then Luna wasn't going to help her. Hermione looked conflicted for a moment, and then used the Gryffindor virtue.

"I know we've only just met a little bit ago, and I know that some people in this school aren't very… kind to you, but… I want you to know that any friend of Harry's is a friend of mine. So…"

"Thank you, Hermione."

Luna had to smile. Even on a day when the school seemed against her, she had made another friend. Hermione blushed a bit before smiling as well. Luna's smiled as just contagious.

"You're welcome! I just wanted to tell you, also… Harry has been acting really strange lately."

"Strange like asking me to a dance?" Luna could understand that.

"No, more like strange as in his magical core was out of balance, and seemed prone to scream and pass out recently."

"Oh. Right, that."

"Just… look out for him, ok?"

Luna had no idea why this sounded more like a resolution between her and Hermione then just a few people discussing someone else. Hermione sounded like she was passing Harry onto Luna, which was weird because Luna doubted anyone could pass Harry if they tried. Much too big to throw like that…

Hagrid, maybe. A giant could probably…

To ease Hermione's mind, though, she nodded. Hermione looked relieved.

"Good. You know, you're not like everyone says you are…"

"That's because no one who says anything about me knows anything about me. Or, it could be that you have gruts in your ears. You don't, do you?"

"Grunts?"

"No, gruts. Magical miniature fat men with wings that take everything you should hear and tell you something different. No, not the direct opposite, that would be too easy for you to figure out. Just slightly incorrect translations, really. Here, I have a grut protection charm somewhere…"

Hermione just stared as Luna went through her pockets like a mad woman, eventually coming up with a single old door knob. After placing it in Hermione's stunned open hands Luna waved goodbye and skipped down the hall again.

It's nice to have someone to talk to sometimes.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was very interesting for Harry, to say the least. Knowing that the guy teaching you about Defense against Dark Lords happens to be a follower of the Dark Lord in disguise kind of makes everything he says ironic.

Most classes Harry tried the best he could not to break out in laughter. A few years of war had given him a unique sense of humor, which accounted for some of it, but there were times no one understood why he was laughing.

Like when good old Barty showed off his lost eye.

"Lost it fighting with Death Eaters…"

Harry gave a small snort trying to hold his laughter in. What was supposed to be 'Mad-eye' Moody glared at him.

"I don't find it very funny!"

Harry burst out laughing.

Yeah, he got detention for that.

It wasn't that bad. But every time he saw the fake 'Mad-eye' he would mumble something about 'constant vigilance' and the fake would wonder if he was coughing.

Still, life was good even as a Champion. Only a few weird people resented him for making it in without the underage problem. There was also that creepy fan club that had just developed. The anti-Luna-Harry club. Apparently in the course of a few minutes after Harry had spoken his intentions to take Luna to a dance, a group of over thirty young women, and Colin Creevy for some reason, had formed a committee to discuss ways to 'bring Harry back to his senses'.

It would have been funny, but Luna was also a target. And Harry didn't think they would be as nice to her as they were to him.

A few weeks into the school term Harry sat bolt upright in History class, startling the teacher and the entire class as most of them, including the teacher, had been nearly asleep.

_Sirius is alive! How could I have forgotten?

* * *

_

Luna Lovegood was wandering the halls after classes a few weeks after the incident in the room of requirement. Since that day she had been subject to the usual disdain from her fellow students, plus a little extra from some weird club. She was actually tired of the attention, and didn't like it at all. So she used her time outside of studying and classes trying to avoid people.

Except Harry.

Harry couldn't seem to be avoided anyway. He just popped up at times, and had an uncanny ability to show up right when some of her 'anti-fans' were about to show up as well. He always seemed to arrive to defuse any situation, most of the time without hurting anyone.

Luna sighed as she walked the halls. Life wasn't getting any easier, just as she had suspected when she had said 'yes' to Harry. Instead, it was getting weirder, but not necessarily worse. Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and even Ron at times had all started helping her out of situations. Granted, if none of this had happened most of the situations wouldn't have happened either…

Luna finally came to her destination, the room of requirement. She only had one goal in mind.

_I want to see something mildly disturbing._

Luna just wanted something to have something normal weird happen. None of this partial celebrity or dances. Luna just wanted something to bring the weirdness into perspective.

The door instantly appeared.

And out burst Harry Potter.

Wearing face paint, chicken bones, a voodoo headdress, a loincloth, with a headless chicken in one hand and a bloody knife in the other.

_Well, one thing is for sure. The room definitely works._

"Luna?"

"Yes?"

Harry didn't even acknowledge his clothing. He just smiled that dazzling smile that made Luna smile as well and had her come in. Inside was rather empty, just a chair and a fireplace. A second chair appeared instantly. Harry plopped down in his chair and sighed in disappointment.

"Ah, Luna. I was hoping it would be someone else, like Padma or Creevy."

Luna sat in her own chair, but when she heard Harry's statement she mentally stiffened. Was this… jealousy?

"Why?"

"Because… oh, wait. Hey, Luna? Do I seem… strange to you?"

"Do you usually perform voodoo rituals?"

Harry looked completely confused for a moment before breaking out in laughter.

"Is that what you see? Here…" Harry instantly seemed to return to normal, his clothing going back to school robes, the chicken and knife disappearing, and the paint vanishing.

"I asked the room to make me appear mildly disturbing to anyone who would enter. I was kinda hoping to scare the living daylights out of the gossip hounds of Hogwarts."

Luna let out a small laugh.

"So that's why the door appeared after only a moment. I asked for the very same thing. I wanted to see something mildly disturbing."

"Do I want to know why?"

"No."

"Ok."

"Why did you want left alone?"

Harry looked at her with his head cocked to the side in confusion.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"Do you think I like being the school celebrity, with everyone trying to get a piece of me?" Harry almost looked sad.

"No. I thought, though, that the fireplace might have something to do with it. Are you burning things?"  
Harry's slight bought of depressing talk stopped and his smile returned. Luna was glad for that. His face shouldn't have a frown on it, ever…

"You're right. I was flooing someone. My godfather, to be exact. Sirius Black."

"The one on the run from the ministry?"

"Same one."

Luna considered asking if he thought that was safe, but by the way he spoke of it she knew he knew what he was doing.

"Harry? Is someone there with you?"

Luna looked over, slightly startled, at the face in the fire. It was the face of a middle aged man, a kind face she thought.

"Yeah, Sirius. Luna Lovegood stopped in."

"Lovegood? Seriously?"

Harry and Luna both looked a little confused at Sirius' laughter that was coming from the fire. The escapee's hearty laughter filled the room.

"Sirius? What's so funny?"

"Not much, just… well…" More laughter. Harry was slightly annoyed. If, by some reason, this was a joke at Luna's expense, he was going to have a talk with Sirius quickly. He didn't need to, though, as Sirius calmed down a moment later.

"Sorry, it was just that Zeno Lovegood and your father were friends of a sort, and they were always making bets. Zeno never lost a bet with James once, not one, but he lost every other bet with anyone else. James would keep betting to try to beat Zeno, and Zeno kept winning bets. It got to the point of ridiculousness, where James could bet Zeno that the sun would rise, and it wouldn't one day. Finally, James thought he had a sure fire long term bet that he could never lose."

"What was it?" Luna was actually quite curious to hear more about her father. He never bet anything anymore as far as she knew. He had horrible luck.

"James bet Zeno, who I assume is you father, Miss Lovegood?"

"Yes."

"He said one day during the first war when Lily was pregnant… wait, what was it? Oh, yes. 'You know, Zeno, that with they way we always were, our kids will always be at odds with each other.' Zeno replied calmly, as always. 'Oh, I wouldn't know about that. I bet they become great friends.' James spotted an opportunity when he saw one. 'I'd bet you a gallon that our kids don't get along. Wait, even better. I bet you ten gallons that they never get married.' Zeno just smiled that knowing smile he had and took the bet, immediately after I remember talking with James and he regretted making the bet. He was afraid Zeno would have a child the same gender as his! And now look, Harry, you owe Luna's father a gallon. And maybe later…"

"Don't say it, Sirius."

Both Harry, who had never heard that story in the past timeline, and Luna were literally glowing red from their blushes. Sirius could see through the fire that he had hit something that was not a joking matter. He hadn't actually thought there was anything there, and while it was a true story he had just been teasing. Apparently his teasing hit a little too close to home for each of the youth.

"I apologize, Miss Lovegood. I didn't mean to imply anything. Just remembering old stories."

Luna managed to shake off a blush. She really had to speak with her father about making such a bet.

"No, it's fine. No need to apologize. I did not know you knew my father, Mr. Black"

Harry almost laughed, if it wasn't for the fact that he was still recovering from the tale. Luna was a master of changing the subject.

"Please, Miss Lovegood. Call me Sirius. Yes, I remember your father and mother, though with my recent incarceration… I haven't kept in touch. How are they? Your mother is an unspeakable, right? And your father runs that newspaper, the Quib- something or another?"

Luna froze for a moment before answering. It wasn't often she had to talk about…

"My father still prints the Quibbler. Mother…" Luna tried to say she was gone, but the words wouldn't come. The face in the fire seemed to understand, though.

"Say no more, I understand. I wish I had been there, for both of you. Because of my foolish rage and actions… I was locked away from who I should have been protecting. And I missed so much. So many people… gone…"

The face in the fire disappeared for a moment, and Luna knew it was to probably wipe tears out of sight. The man on the other side of the fire was a good man, so knew for certain. A caring one.

Harry had barely begun to control his blushing when Sirius turned to him.

"Harry, I think it's about time for me to be getting on with my day. I wish you the best of luck this year, and I'll see you come Christmas. The same to you, Miss Lovegood. I would much like to see Zeno again. You are both invited to the place for Christmas."

"I… I'll talk it over with father."

"Good. Alright then, talk to you again soon Harry."

With that the fire died down and the face disappeared. That left the two embarrassed teenagers alone and in a quiet room.

"Well… that's my godfather."

"Uh huh."

"…"

"…"

"So…"

Harry was forced to be quiet when Luna willed a small table in front of her chair into being, complete with a full tea kettle.

"Tea, Harry?"

He just had to smile. It was just so like her.

"Well, considering that they were on the same side in the war, this rightly explains his actions of late."

And now he was completely lost.

"Pardon?"

"Professor Snape."

"Oh… has he been acting strange recently?"

Luna's eyes rose from her tea to meet his own without a blink.

"You haven't noticed that he… smiles?"

"Does he? I usually don't pay much attention in class. Being ignored by him is much better than being on his list. Believe me, I've tried both."

"He smiles now, at least when I'm around. He must have known about this bet…"

"But why would he smile… he hated my father… oh! That's it. His late nemesis finally lost his last bet and Snape is gloating."

"Likely."

Harry snickered at the thought of the fully grown man gloating about a bet that took place some decade and a half ago that he wasn't even involved in. Granted, the first time around Harry had seen and even recognized that his father had been a bloody prat in Hogwarts towards Snape, but that Snape would remember this about him… it was an unhealthy fixation about his father. Not that Harry could complain, because even with that looming over Snape's head, he had still managed to do the unthinkable in the past/future war.

Snape had saved his life. Multiple times in fact. And he had a very good reason to not do that.

Luna finished her tea with Harry staring into space. She really had no idea what he was doing, it seemed like he was lost in his memories. She really ought to just quietly get up and leave. That is what the old Luna, the Luna that she had been slowly trying to change away from being, would have done.

"What are you thinking about, Harry Potter?"

She watched his eyes once again focus on the present and their current reality. He had seemed so… serious as he had been thinking, but now his face went back to the smiling one she was used to, where his eyes would gleam just so…

Luna had to fight back a blush as her own reality hit her.

_I like him. And apparently Dad does, as well._

Harry didn't seem to notice, and instead had his own kettle appear in front of him.

"I was thinking about many things, from the first trial coming up to… well… the future."

Luna was uncertain, as she was with many thing pertaining to Harry Potter, but it had seemed like he meant something… different when he had said the future. But some things are best left alone.

"The first trial… I do not know anything about it."

"I wasn't expecting you to." He smiled again.

"Hagrid might, though."

For a moment, Harry had seemed surprised. But then his face had gone back to normal.

"I have also seen the thestrals in anxious flight over the forest."

Luna flinched. She forgot that he would also be able to see the winged creatures. She was slightly surprised that someone that appeared to be as distracted as Harry did was able to notice the slight changes in their behavior.

"Thanks for the tip though, Luna. I'm not too worried. I mean… what's the worst they can legitimately throw at us?"

"Dragons."

"Right… dragons."


	8. Dragons

Chapter 7: Dragons

* * *

"Right… dragons."

"It's not that bad, mate."

"Ron… they're dragons."

"Right… but… look on the bright side…"

"Would that be the side with, or without, the flaming breath of death?"

"Harry, you'll do fine… after all, the professors would help if something bad were to happen."

"I do recall something about interference with the tournament being punishable by removal of magic."

"But that wouldn't apply…"

"Yes, it does."

"This is a bad idea."

"Now you tell me? I've only been saying it for the past… how long have I been awake today?"

"A while."

"The past a while, then."

"Just calm down, Harry! You just need to remain calm!"

"Hermione, I think you are the one who needs to calm down."

Harry sat with his friends within earshot of the arena that was currently being filled with eager spectators. Cheers of wizards and witches couldn't overpower the roars heard from even further off. Hermione had started hyperventilating and Ron was desperately trying to calm her down while Harry just lay back on the bench he had been sitting on. In truth, he couldn't be less worried. Compared to three hundred dementors, a single dragon was a breeze. Hell, he could, off the top of his head, list at least ten spells that were strong enough or tricky enough to allow him to get the egg in record time. The real question was if he wanted to do that, or hide his abilities as best he could. It might seem suspicious if he were to start unleashing spells not heard since the fall of the dark lord three dark lords back. What a few ancient libraries will help one learn…

A face appeared above him in his sight range, and he immediately had to smile. It was actually difficult for him to not blush outright every time he saw that face now that his godfather had gone and almost made things very awkward. Luna, though, had seemingly brushed it off like she would do with almost anything. She hadn't mentioned it since then, and so he also had not mentioned it. He figured it was probably better that way. But… he kind of wished that her father did have the abilities of prediction. Though after living through this time line once before, he knew that fate was not necessarily kind to prophets. He had made the same bet last time, and their relationship had ended before it began.

"Harry."

"Luna."

She didn't say anything else other then that. She just looked at him with her large silver eyes, both entrancing him and confusing him.

"Are you going to watch?"

"Yes. Are you going to participate?"

"I don't have much of a choice, really."

"You always have a choice."

Harry could tell now what was wrong, and he was quite touched. In her eyes and expression, beyond the normal blank look she normally wore in public, was worry. Worry for him, he hoped.

"I'm going to be fine. After all, I've been training. I need to be in top shape for later."

Now it was her turn to be confused.

"Later?"

"For the Yule Ball. I'm going to have to be in top shape if I'm going to be able to keep up with you."

This time Luna did blush. Before any more could be said, though, she turned towards the stadium.

"I'll be cheering for you, Harry."

"Thank you, Luna."

She took a few steps before stopping. She didn't turn around again, but he was able to heard her barely whisper something to him before she continued on he way.

"Please… be safe."

Harry just watched as she vanished into the crowds. Only then did he notice that both of his friends were staring at him. He turned to face them.

"What?"

Ron was smirking and Hermione had that weird look in her eyes again, with the sparkles and stuff… creepy.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Yep, Nothing."

"Jealous? Because if you are, I know a few girls just waiting for you."

Ron turned red and started to sputter and Hermione calmed down enough to bop Harry over the head.

"Enough, we need to think up a plan."

* * *

Luna hurried along the path towards the stadium, weaving through the crowds like she was on a mission. Which she was, in a way. Her personal mission was to calm herself down. And get herself away from that… that…

_What is going on with me? I can't even hold a decent conversation with him! All I could say was his name… and I had wanted to actually just tell him 'good luck'. And then he had to mention the ball… augh! Why couldn't he have just chosen a different girl to go?_

That thought actually stopped her in her tracks, so it was lucky for her that she had already found a seat in the Ravenclaw section, away from the rest of her house mates.

_Do I really want that? Do I really wish I never met Harry Potter?_

_No._

_No, not at all._

Now that Luna thought about it, she had been feeling a little bit happier than she normally did. School was pretty dull the last three years, no one to talk to but Ginny, Hagrid, and the thestrals. And the only people who would address her usually did so to attempt some form of mockery. But now she had made at least one new friend, and his friends were treating her nice as well. It wasn't much… but her life was just better now. And…

_And I am really happy to be able to go to the ball with Harry._

She sat in her seat as a blush overtook her face.

_I don't know how or why, but there is just something about him I really can't ignore. If he gave me the option to back out now… I would probably say 'no'. I really like spending time with him. He's kind, and thoughtful, and his eyes are so… complicated. I… really like him. But I'm all so confused...  
_

"Thinking about something, Luna?"

Luna was startled, something that usually never happened, by Ginny Weasley. She did have to smile a bit, though, at her first friend.

_First… not only, now._

"Hello, Ginny."

"Well?"

Ginny took a seat next to Luna, not worried about a Ravenclaw desiring the seat next to the 'Looney', and smiled at Luna waiting for an answer to her previous question.

"Well?"

"Well, what were you thinking about that would get you to blush?"

Luna couldn't help but blush even more. It wasn't a habit, or at least it hadn't been before she had met Harry Potter. She had always been the one with the focused mind that didn't need distractions, not the one to blush at the thought of a boy… a very nice boy…

"There you go again. Is it… him?"

"No, it's just a little warm."

"It's cold enough for a jacket."

"It's crowded."

"No one is sitting within four seats of us."

"… the headwumps?"

Ginny just stared at her.

Luna knew she wouldn't be able to evade her friend for long, she just had to sigh. At least Ginny was normal even if Luna herself wasn't. She seemed to still have that troubling infection of garblobles as shown but her desire to know what people were thinking...

"Yes."

"Yes… what?"

"Yes. I was thinking of..."

"Him?"

"Yes."

Ginny gave out a small squeal of delight, enough to attract the attention of the nearest people for a moment before they focused back on the arena where the champions were scheduled to arrive at any time.

"You like him." It wasn't a question.

"Maybe…" Ginny gave a glare at Luna. "… yes… yes, I do."

"That's great!"

"Yeah... great..."

Luna smiled to herself. Sure, to Ginny this was great. Something out of one of her romance tales. But to Luna... it was different. She wanted to tell Ginny about the reasons it was both great and why it could also be horrible.

_I can't focus on anything anymore. I just think about… well, not entirely, but I can't concentrate on my research, my studies, or anything. I just can't wait… for the next time I can see him. I can't wait to get to the room of requirement not just because it is amazing, but in hope that he might be there as well. This isn't right. It isn't normal… or what I have grown to know if the word 'normal' can't apply. I… I'm not myself._

Ginny stared at her friend before sinking back into her own seat. To Luna this was so unlike anything she had ever encountered. She wasn't even like this around her father, the only one who really understood her. Ginny knew something was wrong. Her blond friend should be happy, not look like she was about to cry. Well, looking like she normally did which was somewhere between wanting to cry and utter wonderment.

"Luna... you don't sound very thrilled. What's the problem? Aren't you... happy?"

Luna sunk further into her own seat. Happy? Yes. Afraid? Even more so. The last time she had been this afraid was when her mother… but this was something completely different. This time is wasn't the life of her mother she was afraid for. It was for her own heart that she feared. She didn't even need to speak for Ginny to get her answer.

"You're afraid, aren't you?"

Luna sighed. Since when did Ginny get so good at reading her emotions.

"Luna… I know you aren't really a… risky person… especially after… well, you know. But I think that if there was one thing in this whole world that would be worth taking a risk with, it would be with your heart. I mean… it's kind of like a game of chance. You might lose, in which case it might be hard, but you'll be able to move on. But if you win… it's worth it, right?"

Luna just stared into the space in front of her. What Ginny said made very little sense to the blond. She never participated in games of chance. But more importantly was the fact that Ginny had confirmed her thoughts. This was dangerous. If she got too involved in this boy and it all turned out to be some sort of sick joke even when… even when he seemed so… so perfect.

_I don't want to feel that kind of pain again!_

"I have to tell him I can't do it."

"Huh?" Ginny looked shocked that her attempt at a pep talk had utterly failed, and even back fired!

"I can't do this, Ginny. I can't…"

"Yes, you can."

"I'll admit. It has been… very nice this year. I _am_ happy. But… I would rather go back to how things were before. I don't want to get any more involved with this…"

"With 'him', you mean."

Luna couldn't respond. She desperately wanted these friends and this new happiness that this year had brought, but… she didn't want to risk losing it. She could live like she had before. She had accepted her life like that long ago, so why was it so hard to just… say 'no'.

"Luna. This isn't what you want. Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately? You've changed. Before it was a rare sight to see you smile, you just wore that blank stare look you always gave to everyone when we weren't alone. Now you smile often, and even more when 'he' is around. I haven't heard you really laugh in years, Luna, but in the past weeks I've heard your real laugh three times. Three times! You might not be able to see it, Luna, but Harry is bringing out the best in you and I think you're having the same effect on him! Please… don't give up. Sometimes you only get one chance like this. If you're too afraid to reach out and grab it you'll miss it, and for the rest of your life you'll look back at that point and wish you had done differently. Safety isn't the issue. Courage is what you need."

"You're the Gryffindor."

"That doesn't mean a thing. Look at Nevil. He's not very brave. He's more like a cute and cuddly Hufflepuff. But Cedric is also Hufflepuff, and look how brave he is."

"Nevil is cute and cuddly?"

This time it was Ginny's turn to blush.

* * *

Harry walked alone now, his friends taking their seats. Hermione had barely managed to wave goodbye without crying, which was a slight blow to his confidence until he remembered that both his friends had no idea that he was fully capable of winning this task with his eyes closed. They hadn't been able to come up with any plan, but that was fine. He told them he would just wing it… dragon wing it. It wasn't even material for a bad pun, but at least it got them to stop freaking out and stare at him in confusion. Now he was heading towards the champion's tent to probably get the good luck of picking the Hungarian Horntail again.

_Hey, it can't be that bad. It's just a dragon. It isn't like its some vile demon from the netherworld that wants my soul for supper. Good times... good times...  
_

Harry pushed his way under the flap to find next to everyone waiting impatiently. The eyes of every student and teacher turned to him instantly.

"Hello? I'm not late, am I?"

Dumbledore waved his wand about for a moment.

"You were three seconds early."

"Ah, that's good then."

Harry easily sank into a chair next to the other champions with a nod of respect to them. Cedric looked pale, but confident. Viktor, the man that he was, looked completely stoic, but Harry could tell he was excited at the prospects of going against a dragon. Fleur looked a little green in the gills, having probably never thought that the tasks would be like _this._

"Well, now that all of you are here we can explain the task. It's simple, really. We have four dragons, one for each of you. You will go into the arena and take as much time as you like in collecting a simple golden egg that the dragon will be guarding. Points will be awarded based on how much time it takes. Before you think about it, the egg will repel any spell shot at it, so don't try accio it if you want to avoid flying in a random direction from summoning yourself. Now, if you would please reach into this bag and pull one item out."

Harry didn't even bother watching the other's dragons get chosen. He already had a feeling that this would be like last time. The bag was placed in front of him and he quickly reached in and grabbed the remaining dragon.

"Hungarian Horntail, lucky you."

"Yes, lucky me."

The headmaster of Durmstrang looked a little shocked when Harry actually seemed pleased to get the most aggressive dragon.

_Maybe he just doesn't know about it…_

Dumbledore once again stepped forward to address the four students.

"Good luck, everyone. We will all be watching in anticipation from the stands. You may go in the order you picked your opponent. Wait for one of the teachers to guide you into the stadium when it is you turn. Once again, good luck."

With a twinkle in his eye and a smile the wizard left along with nearly every other witch and wizard, leaving only a few assistants and the champions.

"Well, this is certainly going to be fun."

"Fun? Potter, I know you've been acting strange since we got back, but now you think going against dragons is 'fun'? What is wrong with you?"

Harry smiled warmly at Cedric, startling the boy.

"It's going to be a new experience. How many other people in the whole modern world will ever get to go fight a dragon? Most are kept in ranches and specific reserves for their, and our, protection. This is a once in a lifetime chance. The amount of people that have actually fought dragons is next to nil unless you count the dragon trainers. How can this not be fun? Just don't let them see any fear in your eyes, and you should be fine."

Cedric just sat back into his chair and covered his eyes with his hands before one of the attendants tapped his shoulder and led him out of the tent. He did look a little braver now then moments ago, though. Viktor smirked in Harry's direction before nodding in agreement.

"This will surely be a most memorable day, no?"

"One way or another, yes. One to tell the kids about." Fleur looked shocked for a moment.

"You have children?"

Harry just stared at her for a moment before bursting into laughter.

"No, of course not. But hopefully I will eventually, and then it will be a story to tell them. Think about it. Don't you want your children to be able to say their mother fought a dragon and won?"

Fleur, still a little pale, smiled at the thought.

"If I can win."

"Oh, you can. We all can. There had to be some reason we were chosen, right? We all should get past this test easy."

Harry sunk into his chair and closed his eyes, glad to impart a little bit of strength into his fellow champions. Now lay before him the real choice. Should he try to win, or just have some fun?

_Oh, it's not even a choice. Fun all the way!

* * *

_

Harry walked into the sunshine just a few minutes later, which either meant the other champions found it easy or the dragons found it easy. But, being as the crowd seemed happy, he was pretty sure it was the former, not the latter.

_Time to have some fun._

Harry smiled and waved to the crowd, completely ignoring the massive dragon behind him, which shocked the crowd into silence.

"Thank you! Thank you! You're too kind!"

Harry could feel the tension in the arena increase instantly as everyone went completely silent and their eyes turned from him and to something behind him.

_Bastil._

The crowd screamed as one as fire shot from behind Harry, engulfing him entirely. Most were too shocked by the sudden death of the hero to make a noise as the fire from the dragon continued to spew forth into the area that had once been Harry Potter and was now Harry Potter's crematorium.

Only a few people stared without worry. Dumbledore had seen something strange just before the fire had hit Harry. Luna was looking at the area with intense interest, noticing a slight problem with the fires actions. It normally would not be bubbling around where Harry was supposed to be… Next to her Ginny was in tears. Below and to the right they could see Hermione holding Ron back from jumping into the arena.

But Harry Potter was not out of tricks.

"Ah! The dragon killed me! Oh Nooooooo…"

Everyone in the stadium turned towards where Harry Potter was now sitting on the dragon's tail mock crying. The crowd was silent and confused for a while, just staring at the boy-who-lived like he was insane. A few teachers smirked, realizing that it was probably an illusion charm that had made them think he had been incinerated. Only a few, including Dumbledore, had noticed that it couldn't have been just a simple illusion. Harry had actually been engulfed in flame. How he had gone from there to the tail without anyone noticing was another deal all together.

The dragon also seemed to notice the unwanted passenger on its tail. Its head spun and moved to batter Harry with enough force to kill. Instead, Harry just fell backwards off the tail and barely managed to roll out of the way of its attack and then barely managed to roll away from the tail as it raised and fell to crush him. He looked off balance to all but the keenest observer. Only an expert would have noticed the precise movements that the boy was doing to avoid being smashed into Potter pancakes.

He rolled back to his feet after falling backwards to avoid the dragon's claws again just in time to see the dragon inhale for a fire attack once again.

"Really? I thought I made it clear that your fire won't work on me?"

Harry smirked as, instead of dodging the fire like everyone was hoping and expecting, he charged straight towards the dragon.

As the fire came Harry leaped into the air.

"Reducto!"

High into the air.

Harry fired his spell towards the ground at his feet as he jumped, causing a huge eruption of earth to raise him above the stream of fire and flipping up and…

Onto the head of the horntail.

The instantaneous reaction of every being in the arena was shock. From Dumbledore to the dragon the arena was silenced by the absolute fact the Harry Potter was standing firmly on the snout of the dragon looking down into its eyes with his hands on his hips.

"Bad dragon. Stop that."

Harry lightly flicked the dragon right between the eyes with his finger

The spectators were forced to cover their ears due to the ferocity of the roar that followed. The dragon threw its head back and Harry Potter was thrown off, but he was controlled as he flipped to the ground. He was forced to move faster than ever as his back was nearly ripped apart by the swinging tail followed by the dragon's claws.

"Don't say I didn't warn you. You're going to go to time out!"

Harry jumped over a tail lash and whipped his wand around. He fired a quick spell towards where the egg lay.

"Reducto!" Most of the spectators closed their eyes, not wanting to see the poor boy get destroyed by the ricocheting spell. The ones who continued to watch saw the spell hit the ground directly in front of the egg, not the egg itself. The following explosion hurled the egg through the air. Harry was running after it before it had even been air born. Harry dodged the dragon like it was second nature, which, in a way, it was. He cast a relatively weak protego, or weak for him at least, to slow a claw swipe down enough so he could slide under it. And then, before anyone had noticed, Harry was between the egg and the dragon.

Harry ran over to the egg but stopped before picking it up. He spun to the dragon and gave a flourishing bow to his opponent. Then, with a smile, he picked up the egg.

"I win."

The crowd was silent for a few moments before cheers erupted from the stands. Sure, compared to the Durmstrang kid who had used only one spell to speed himself up and had won with only a few seconds out of the gate, Harry's time was just flat out slow.

But, hey, it was fun.

Ron and Hermione in the front row were cheering louder than anyone, but when Harry looked into the stands he was looking for only one person.

He found her smiling and clapping next to her red haired friend who was screaming at the top of her voice. He gave her a subtle wink that she caught with a blink of surprise. He laughed a little before carrying his egg back towards the champion's tent.

_Yeah, that was pretty fun.

* * *

_

What wasn't fun was having to explain to his friends exactly why he had done what he had done.

"Of all the irresponsible…"

"Mate, I thought you were bloody dead!"

"What spells were those…"

"Are you an angel?"

Ok, not all the questions were from his friends. Some were from his fan club. And if he wasn't mistaken that last question had come from Colin Creevy.

Creepy.

He sat with egg in hand in the Gryffindor main room wishing ever so much he could just get out of there. He hadn't liked big crowds all that much in his last life before the war. After the war he hated them. Sure, these were his classmates and not mobs of angry muggles and wizards out for his neck for not killing Voldemort the moment he appeared, but the fact of the matter was that Harry was not built to be a celebrity.

"Alright, enough is enough! Shoo! All of you go to bed!"

A universal sigh of disappointment was heard around the common room as they rather unwillingly listened to the Gryffindor that hadn't been eaten alive, as the Slytherins had put two to one odds at. Soon the room only contained a pissed off Hermione and a confused Ron. And Harry, staring into the fire like it held the answers to his life's questions.

"Harry."

"I am sorry for worrying you, Hermione. But if you think about it, you should have put a little more trust in me. Did the teacher's gasp in shock?"

"Most of them."

"Dumbledore?"

"No."

"Well, there you have it. Dumbledore is your guide to telling if I'm dead or not."

"Harry, it isn't a joke."

"I know…" Harry dropped the fake smile. To be honest with his friends was something he didn't exactly have practice doing.

"Listen… I will try to not do it again. But when I get serious…"

"You get scary. It's true." Hermione looked at Ron with a glare. "What? He does! Don't you remember last year with the dementors? Harry's serious look is scary."

"He's right."

"I know! But… but that doesn't mean you should say it aloud!"

"Hermione, what Ron lacks in tact he makes up for with his brutal honesty. You know we wouldn't want him any other way."

"Yeah! What he said."

Hermione just sighed but a smile was back on her face. Ron and Harry also smiled. After all, if Hermione wasn't happy…

"Alright. So what's with the egg."

"Don't know. I'm not going to worry about it tonight." The truth was that Harry didn't want to open the freaking annoying egg here where it might bring the whole house back down upon him.

"Well, it is past curfew. I'm turning in."

"Sounds like a plan."

* * *

_Harry spun on his heel at what he just heard._

"_What… what did you just say?"_

_Remus Lupin had a confused look on his face. He had just finished fighting off a small force of death eaters with Tonk's and Harry's help. They had been defending a rear entrance to one of the Order of the Phoenix's main bases._

"_I said, weren't you supposed to be with Sirius? I heard Draco tell Sirius to guard the main entrance with you and Dumbledore."  
Harry stared at the Werewolf. Millions of thoughts ran through his head in an instant, thousands of scenarios, dozens of possibilities…_

_But there was only one answer._

"_Shit…" Harry sprinted back into the building, ignoring Remus's calls from his back. He made the fastest route for the main doors._

_Draco hadn't told Harry to guard the main gate. Draco hadn't told Dumbledore to guard the main gate. Dumbledore wasn't even IN THIS SUPPOSED-TO-BE-SAFE-HOUSE. Draco had just been in charge of telling people their battle station assigned by Dumbledore. It wasn't a harmless mistake. This was sabotage._

_Harry turned into the main hall still hearing spell fire from outside the doors. He made it almost to the doors before they were knocked aside and the body of his guardian went flying through the hall before slamming with a sickening sound into the far wall._

_Harry didn't have a chance to turn around towards the man he thought of as family before spells poured through the open doors. _

"_Colloportus! Cave Inimicum! Duro!" _

_Harry knew that that would hold them for a minute or two as the doors slammed close. He quickly put his transfiguration skills to work raising a wall behind the door out of the marble floor. Only a few moments had gone since he had arrived._

_Harry then spun to find Remus and Tonks behind him with Sirius. They had followed him after making their own door secure, but had accelerated to get there. He didn't want to look._

_And what he saw he wanted to forget._

_Sirius had multiple holes all the way through his body. His neck was laying at an odd angle on the floor. His eyes were glassy and unseeing._

_Sirius was dead._

_Harry knew he was crying as he watched Remus and Tonks cry at his godfather's side. Yet it wasn't real to him. This was the first death of anyone close to him since Ron's death only months before. He was still crying as his marble wall was blown in._

_He was still crying as he banished the huge slabs back towards the entrance with enough speed to carve trenches in the floor. He was still crying as he charged screaming through the rubble and blood his first attack had created. 10 live death eaters. 8 or nine already dead from Sirius's last stand. He cried as he sprinted towards the one that seemed to be the leader, firing spells that didn't just kill the death eaters but destroyed and annihilated the surrounding area.  
He cried as he blew a hole the size of human head through the last death eater's chest and severed both his legs and arms from his body._

_He cried as he stood above the dead death eaters, screaming his anger and pain to the night sky._

_There was no pain, there was no reality, and there wouldn't be any for many days to come.

* * *

_

"Ahh!"

Harry awoke from his bunk with a scream. He was soaked in sweat and so was his bed. He sat up and put his head in his hands.

"Shit… I can't keep doing this."

"Harry? What ya doing?"

Ron had been barely waken by something, he didn't know what, but could hear Harry breathing really heavily.

"Nothing, go back to sleep."

"…K." And Ron was out like someone had just said nox.

Harry lay back in bed after magically drying both himself and his bed. All he wanted was a few hours of uninterrupted sleep. Was that too much to ask?

_Come on! I just want a peaceful sleep with no dreams about death! One or two beautiful women, maybe, but can't I just dream about something other than my own nightmarish past-future thing?_

A few minutes of calm breathing and he was asleep again.

* * *

"_Cho?"_

_Harry lay in bed late at night awake, thinking about the past and the future. Where should he go next? What else should… could he learn that would be helpful to the war effort. Sirius... why the hell did he fall for Draco's trick. His mind was completely focused on the war when Cho Chang walked nonchalantly into his room and locked his door before removing her coat and revealing what she was wearing.  
_

_Wearing a tight black leather dominatrix outfit._

"_Hello, Harry. I came to help you…" She snapped the whip she was carrying. "Relieve some stress."

* * *

_

"AHHHHHH! OH GOD, NOOOO!"

Sometimes life has a good sense of humor. Other times it is a sadistic bastard intent on getting a good laugh at your cost.


	9. When Can I Graduate?

AN: Yes, I still live. Yes, I still write. But now I have an actual job that makes me actually work... and I love it! So I'm not complaining. I think I will actually have more time now to write then when I was in college.

* * *

Chapter 8: When Can I Graduate?

* * *

Harry Potter was bored. Hell, he was bored the first time around, but that time he could have honestly learned something. This time he already knew everything that was happening in his classes like the back of his hand. Except in this time the back of his hand was not scared from one of the many fires it had been subjected to. Snape couldn't even dock him points because all of his potions were perfect, which had been difficult that one day Nevil's cauldron had exploded and some of the contents had gotten in his. Luckily he was fast enough to isolate it and remove it from his potion while he neutralized the addition with a drop of dragon blood. That actually earned him points for his knowledge of the exact way to counter the faulty potion.

Snape was a little more pleasant this time around, mostly because Harry himself was not antagonistic towards him. Hell, Harry was being outright nice to him. It wasn't necessarily because Harry liked him now, for that would have been a vast stretch of the truth. No, Harry tolerated the man in most cases, and respected him in others. It had taken guts… lots of guts to do what Snape had done… or will have done…

_Past-future tense doesn't make sense._

Harry was casually walking down the hallway with no purpose exactly. It was lunch time, but he didn't feel hungry necessarily. He didn't have anything to study. He didn't have anything to research. He didn't honestly have anything to do…

_Hm… I could practice dancing. I bet I'm pretty rusty at that. Haven't danced in… forever._

Harry did a quick one eighty and started towards the room of requirement but stopped short when he saw what he thought was a brief ripple in the air that disappeared a moment later. He started walking an instant later, just managing to make it seem like a brief stumble.

Someone had been following him. And if he had to guess, it was one of three people. Hermione, if she was suspicious, but he wasn't sure if she knew that spell right now. Malfoy, just because the little blighter was a nuisance and would probably think it brave to hit him with a spell when his back was turned. But the most likely suspect, based on the size of the shimmer in the air, was good ol' Barty, the man who was impersonating Mad Eye Moody.

Harry walked on towards the room but casually pulled his map out and activated it.

Yep, good ol' Barty.

Harry smirked. He could have some fun with this.

Or he would as soon as the girl that had just appeared in front of him left.

Not that he wanted to get rid of her, though.

"Luna. It's good to see you."

"Hello Harry. Where are you off too?"

"Just off to the room."

"The room?"

"You know,_ the _room."

"Oh. That room."

"Yes, I'm just going to go see if there was anything interesting in it."

"But Harry…"

Harry mouthed the words 'being followed' to Luna and then smiled.

"Want to join me?"

She was a good one at being subtle. She didn't even glance over his shoulder, she just smiled back and nodded. They walked side by side a while longer in silence before Harry started up a conversation.

"What do you think of our new defense teacher?"

"He is… odd."

Harry smiled. She had some idea that not all was as it seemed.

"Yeah, he's pretty eccentric. He even demonstrated the three unforgivables for our class."

"Isn't that against the law."

"Something tells me Professor Moody isn't someone that always follows the law to the letter. Sometimes I wonder if he really was an auror. But, Dumbledore says he was."

"Yes. Quite so."

Harry smiled to himself. She had gotten that it was Mad Eye following them. He dare not show her the map. Luna should know about Barty Crouch Jr. from the trials or records of the trials. Her father's newspaper was bound to have printed the truth about all the death eater scum being let go with hands lightly slapped.

They walked down the halls towards the room of requirement without incident, just talking about nothing in particular. The latest issue of the Quibler had come out and Harry showed her his copy, he had recently subscribed, and began to discuss the interesting article on the questionable reporting methods of their rival paper. It wasn't long before Harry realized two things. One, the Luna from the past was just as subtle, yet vicious, at being an enemy of the Prophet as in the future. Two, Barty was apparently more of an idiot than he had let on last time. He was following persistently and if Harry had to guess, it was not just for observation. Barty was going to do something. Harry wondered to himself if the last time he had gone through this Barty had actually done something to him and he had just never known.

_Was there anything weird that happened around this time last time? I could have been obliviated… I wouldn't have known back then._

Before he came to any conclusion they reached the room of requirement. He thought for a moment about what kind of room would be best to either lose his follower or fight him in before smiling to himself.

_I need a maze. I need a room with a maze. I need a room with a maze._

Now, the room of requirements is a very interesting room that works hard to provide exactly what its occupants want. If it possible without breaking the laws of nature and magic, it can be done. So when Harry and Luna entered the room, Harry breaking into a sprint with Luna right behind him, the comfortable room that usually greeted them had been replaced with a fantastic maze made of stone. They entered into a long, thin hall with many routes breaking away from it. Harry took the third route on the right which seemed to lead directly into a counter-clockwise spiral. They ran around before finding an offshoot that led them even further away from the entrance. They kept running, but slowed to a jog and Luna leaned over and whispered.

"Harry."

"Yes."

"How are we going to find our way back out?"

"We just need to think about the exit, but don't do that now. Something that I found out about this room is that it goes off of a majority rule type thing when the occupants want contradictory things. Our follower could just ask the room to remove the maze, but as long as we both want it, its 2 for and 1 against. The room won't do anything he wants as long as we don't want it. Try to think about not being seen, being hidden, and…" They had reached the edge of the maze at a dead end. Harry turned around and thought a wall behind them into existence. "… keeping that wall up. Even if he knows where we are he shouldn't be able to reach us."

"Are you sure this is necessary? What if he was just trying to teach us a lesson about always staying on guard?"

Harry willed a couple chairs into existence in their now quite small stone prison and motioned for Luna to have a seat. When she was seated Harry decided to let her in on something.

"Luna, I'm almost positive that the person that was following us did not have mere lessons on their mind. They had plenty of chances to do that. Call me paranoid…"

"You're paranoid."

"… thanks. But I'm not even sure that this guy is who he says he is."

"Dumbledore…"

"Is not infallible. He's one of the world's strongest wizards, but he isn't omnipotent."

Luna leaned back into her chair that changed shape to be more comfortable. Harry was right, of course, but if what he feared was true they could be in serious trouble.

"Alright, then why did we trap ourselves in the room with whoever it is?"

"Harry raised his hand as if to make a point but then looked startled.

"Why did I do that?"

Luna had to laugh at that. Just a small giggle, but she couldn't help it. They could have been in mortal danger, though it was unlikely, and she had to laugh because Harry Potter had done something as silly as to put them in danger when they could have just head back towards the more populated areas of Hogwarts.

Harry pouted a little before looking towards one of the walls of their makeshift room. What looked like a mirror appeared on the wall. He smiled. Apparently Barty didn't know how this room was supposed to work. The mirror showed the image of a very frustrated Mad Eye Moody somewhere in the maze. As he wished he could know where the man was a small map appeared in the corner of the mirror with three glowing red dots. Harry was not surprised, but he was a little angry, that the three dots appeared so close to each other.

"He's on the other side of our wall."

"What? How?"

Harry was about to run a few diagnostic spells on himself before he remembered that he wasn't supposed to know them yet. Instead, he cast a much easier and less noticeable spell silently and wandlessly on his eyes. Some magic, specifically runes and a few charms, could be seen with a magically enhanced vision. If he had a tracking spell somewhere on his person or his clothing, almost two thirds of the good tracking spells would be undetectable. But, if Harry was lucky, and he knew he was damn lucky, the fake Mad Eye would have used a tracking spell that would be visible with just a magic eye.

He scanned himself for any glow and was disappointed to find nothing. No foreign magic was attached to either him or his belongings. But, when he looked over at his companion, he almost lost himself to anger.

Luna practically glowed with foreign magic. It was on her clothing, her hands, her face, her hair… everywhere. She had been mimicking Harry and looking around at her own clothing for a trace of… something. She spun around when she started to feel some uncontrolled magic swirl around Harry. He did not look happy. The magic pouring off of him was almost…

Frightening.

"Harry? Are you OK?"

Harry was not OK. Not by a long shot. Luna had been tagged by almost four tracking charms of different types, at least three charms whose only purpose was to decrease coordination, and one charm that he recognized from the future-past, but that wasn't the issue. He didn't know what to do. The magic showed signs of at least three casters. One caster he recognized from the magic as being Dumbledore. Most likely it had been done for her safety with him knowing of their connection, but it was also possible it was to make finding her for the 2nd task easier. Two tracking charms were likely Barty. The three malicious charms dedicated to slightly hampering her motor functions were weak and poorly done. Probably done by her housemates as a prank. They probably didn't know that the longer the charms are on without someone noticing, the longer it would take to recover. It would almost be permanent if left for a few years, and Luna would never even know that she wasn't a natural klutz. The last tracking charm was what he was most angry about and, also, the most confusing.

Luna's skin was glowing a sickly pale green. It was not a simple tracking charm, though to someone with magic sight it would seem like she glowed in the dark. It was the kind of charm that's only purpose was to weaken another. And it was effective and strong. The charm, a rare and difficult one, was used in conjunction with some delicate rune work in order to tap into the magic core of a person. The charm was originally made as a very complicated way to, in a sense, give magic to another person. It was developed to allow medical witches to get more power when they were tired or worn out. It was forgotten with the invention of potent restorative potions, but it was made illegal after it was found out that a member of a pureblood family had been using it on all of his magical servants and, after many years, a few of the people he had been stealing magic from became squibs.

However long Luna had had the "Magic Leech" charm on, it was by far long enough. Harry was about to knock her unconscious and start work unraveling the runes and ask her forgiveness later when he froze in thought.

_Was this here last time? No… it definitely wasn't a few years from now. So… either the person holding this charm on her dies in the near future or something has changed. More importantly, before I remove this I need to trace the magic to whoever did this... this unforgivable offense._

Harry took a deep breath and calmed himself. The wind and magic that had picked up around him died down. His robes stopped billowing and Luna's hair stopped swirling in the wind which made it look amazing…

_Oh, right. Luna. _

She didn't look comfortable at all. Hell, for all Harry knew she might think she had been glaring at her.

"Harry?"

"Sorry, Luna." He sat down again in his chair. He hid a few imperceivable hand movements in as he moved to sit which removed Barty's tracking charms. The result on the mirror-screen was almost immediate. The fake Mad Eye froze a moment before cursing and basically throwing a tantrum.

"Harry, what is he doing?"

"Probably frustrated that he can't find us."

"What was that all about?"

"Luna…" Harry hesitated to find something to say. What could he say? That he knew she had been directly sabotaged in her personal life? That she is being watched by Dumbledore and a Death Eater? Harry looked her in the eye and knew right then that she wasn't going to believe him if he lied. But that was exactly what he needed to do!

_This isn't good. I want to stay with Luna, but I can't keep this up forever. She isn't stupid. She is going to suspect me sooner or later of something, and more than likely she will suspect I'm just a pathological liar. And when one of the top things she respects is truth… that doesn't bode well on the idea of a relationship._

"… I sometimes have trouble with accidental magic."

"Accidental magic doesn't just happen, Harry. It is usually caused by intense emotional strain."

Sharp as a dragon scale.

"I… I…"

"You were angry."

Harry could only nod.

"At me."

Harry was almost shocking into silence. She hadn't phrased it as a question, she really thought he had been furious with her for some reason or another, one she had no clue about. It made sense with how he had flipped out, but…

"Absolutely not!"

Luna, who had turned to face the opposite wall with a blank look on her face, turned back toward Harry with his exclamation. He had shouted so loud that the fake Mad Eye on the other side of the wall stopped cursing to himself and faced their wall. Luna watched as he began to examine the wall again.

"Harry?"

"Luna, I am not angry with you. I was not angry with you. I honestly can't imagine being angry with you."

"Harry?"

Luna watched as the picture of Mad Eye rapped on the wall. She could barely hear it, the wall was almost fifteen centimeters think of solid rock.

"Luna, I am sorry. I can't tell you what that was. Maybe someday, but not now. There are things that I just can't tell you… anyone, I mean! I can't tell anyone, not just you. I mean, if I could tell people, you would be the first I'd tell. It's just not something…"

**"Harry!**

Mad Eye had drawn his wand. Harry spun to the picture of the Barty Crouch Jr. in Mad Eye's body and saw what Luna was pointing at. He thought the exit into existence behind them in a second and a moment later had opened the door and pushed Luna out.

_She is not going to be happy about that later._

Harry had just enough time to raise a stone barrier in front of him when the fake Mad Eye blew the entire wall apart, showering Harry's makeshift barricade in debris.

_You have now pissed me off._

He thought the exit closed, knowing that Luna would try to reenter, but she would be fighting a person already inside for control, and Harry would be able to keep the door closed.

Harry heard Barty cough a bit from the dust that had been kicked up by the stone wall exploding. Normally the dust would be ample cover for Harry to find a better point of attack, but Harry wasn't going to take a chance that Barty's magic eye wouldn't catch him. Not that it mattered. Barty was out of his league, Harry probably wouldn't need to even cast a single spell. He could just use the room against the fake professor.

But Harry was pissed. And a pissed off Harry meant that someone was going to get stomped.

"You still alive, Potter?"

Harry didn't move or speak any more than to draw his wand. This was an interesting turn of events.

"You can come out now. *cough* I just want to congratulate you on avoiding me so long. *cough cough*"

The dust was settling slowly, and Harry was sure Barty could see his meter and a half high wall in the middle of the room.

"A wall, I am impressed with your transfiguration skills, Mr. Potter. But come out now, the game is over."

Harry silently flicked his wand and some rubble in the far corner that was still dusty shifted. Harry was surprised by Barty's response.

"Petrificus Toltalus!"

_So it is capture, then probably obliviate. That's not too hard to figure a counter… sure, why not._

Harry quickly cast a spell on himself that would resist the effects of the body bind spell. Now to see what was going on.

"I surren…"

"Petrificus Toltalus!"

Harry mimicked the effect of the spell perfectly, going so far as to forget his was in a rubble strewn room and landing in a painful self-imposed body bind on a pile of rocks with his head now noticeably less focused and more pain filled.

Harry remained perfectly still, using his own magic to keep himself frozen stiff, while he listened to Barty walk the last few feet to his side and stare down at his face.

"Gotcha."

Harry remained frozen except for his wand hand. He kept that hand unfrozen and ready to cast a counter spell.

"Crucio."

Harry was prepared. He was probably the victim of more Crucios than anyone else alive baring some victims of Bellatrix Lestrange such as the Longbottoms. And he wasn't in a coma. Barty showed off his incredible lack of magical talent for anything besides simple potion brewing and Harry barely flinched. With the body bind still on he was forced to suffer his pain completely still.

"Aw… poor wittle Potter didn't wike dat?"

Harry almost vomited. Not from pain, but from disgust at the man above him. He was just as insane as Bellatrix, but only a quarter as magically talented. Vile, contemptible, disgusting, filthy…

"Well, you won't remember this anyway so it won't matter if you liked it or not. Now, let me tell you what I'm gonna do…" Barty had ceased acting like Mad Eye and was reverting to his original crazy self. "I'm gonna find that little blonde girl around here somewhere and I'm gonna set you up against that wall over there. Then I'm gonna make you watch me strip her and then I'm gonna…"

"Stupify."

Harry stunned the man and immediately got up. The unconscious man was insane at every level. It was all Harry could do to not destroy the man in the most painful way possible.

But he couldn't if he was going to preserve the timeline, and Harry desperately needed to get to that cemetery at the end of the tournament and stop Voldemort and his death eaters before a war started.

"Petrificus Toltalus! Enervate."

The fake Mad Eye's eyes shot open but he was frozen stiff otherwise.

"You aren't going to do anything like that, Barty. Oh yes, I know who you really are Jr. Your mother would be so proud, if she was alive. I can see from your eyes that you are wondering how I found out. Well, see, I'm from the future. A future where I killed Voldemort. You're dead too, but don't worry. That comes sooner than you would think. Stupify. Obliviate."

Harry waved his wand over the man and scribed some complex runes into the air and then directed them around the twisted Death Eater. With a flick he had set them. They would activate whenever a female student would enter his eye sight and cause him to be repulsed by the sight of them, and physically repelled if he came in physical contact with one.

Harry inscribe a few more safeguards, including one that would cause him to lose invisibility of any kind barring an invisibility cloak if he came within ten meters of Harry. He did not want something like this to happen again. Who knows what the bastard had done last time… and no one would have known. Harry shuddered.

With a thought, the room was back to normal. Harry left the unconscious man to wake up on his own and summoned the exit. It appeared in front of him and he was nearly bowled over by a blonde girl tumbling through the door she probably had not expected to open. Harry caught the girl as she fell into him and half expected her to just look up like she had done so many times in the future and just say…

"Oh, hello again Harry."

Harry laughed. Luna dusted herself off and then got to her feet. She had been trying her hardest to reenter the room ever sense she had been carefully, yet forcibly, ejected from it. And now, her she was, ready to help the boy she had thought was in serious trouble and he's just laughing uncontrollably on the floor. She glanced around and quickly saw the motionless body of Professor Moody. She walked over and saw that he was still breathing.

_I don't know why I even checked, Harry is only a 4__th__ year. He wouldn't be able to kill a professor. But then… how did he beat him in a duel._

"Oh, don't worry about him, Luna. He'll be fine. Mobilicorpus."

Harry levitated the unconscious body to the door. He quickly checked both ways, but as usual in this lesser traveled hall, there was no one. Luna followed Harry down the hall to a broom closet where he levitated the body into and then closed the door.

"There, he should be in for a surprise when he wakes up."

"Why? Broom closets aren't really that exciting."

Harry looked over and for the first time sense the short battle he fully took in his companion. Luna had been acting normal, but he could tell that she was troubled. Very troubled.

"Luna, what are you doing after dinner?"

"That depends on what dinner is."

Harry paused a moment in thought about how what dinner was mattered…

"Would you want to walk out by the forest tonight?"

She looked at him strangely. It wasn't the kind of face she normally wore around him. She was doubting him. He didn't like it.

"Alright, I think I can do that."

"After dinner then."

With a wave, Harry headed back to class with two goals in mind. Find out what to say to the girl, and then figure out how to say it.

Luna, on the other hand, just stood and watched as Harry walked down the hall with his hands in his pockets. The last twenty or so minutes had possibly been the strangest she had ever been through. Being followed, running through a maze, Harry's outburst of magic and negative emotion, the quick surprise duel that ended with the student beating the teacher, and then stuffing the body in a closet.

_The world must be going mad. I ought to start putting up more anti-flibbermite wards around the castle. Professor Dumbledore always seems to not have enough…_

_I hope that I can get some answers tonight. This is getting out of hand. Harry is so nice, but he is also so hard to figure out. So many strange things happen around him all the time… How did he beat the dragon? How did he beat the teacher? How does he know so much about me?_

Luna walked another direction towards her next class. She didn't want to demand information from him, or did she?

_Would that be so wrong, to just want some answers? And besides, the worst that could happen is that he calls off our… _

She almost tripped herself. Even the thought of losing what only days before she had been willing to give away completely caused her to falter.

_I'm frightened, Mother. I'm getting attached again. I don't know what's going to happen and I'm scared._

Luna didn't have a very pleasant afternoon following that.

* * *

Dinner, which had turned out to be a fantastic assortment of all sorts of French recipes to please the guests, came for Harry too soon and for Luna to slow. Both couldn't keep their minds on their classes, or even dinner.

"Harry, you know I'm usually the one to just… you know… eat anything, but…"

"What Ron is trying to tell you is that we think you've had enough escargot."

Harry looked up from his plate, which he had been staring at for who knows how long lost in thought, with part of a well cooked snail hanging out of his mouth. Ron gagged as Harry slurped it down.

"I haven't had that…"

"37."

Harry just stared at Hermione for a long moment before pushing his plate away and grabbing his drink and trying to drown his stomach. His mind was on his pseudo-date and what he was going to do.

Luna wasn't faring much better. She was nibbling on the tail of a large prawn, getting nothing out of it, and just spent the time wondering about the boy she was so confused about. What would she find out tonight? How hard should she press for information? What if he lies?

Both were relieved and worried when the tables magically cleared and dinner was done.

It was time for some truth.

* * *

Harry and Luna snuck out of the castle right after dinner, Harry with his invisible cloak in pocket and Luna slowly skipping ahead of him. Luna had asked to go see the thestral nest, so that was where they were headed. Harry had thought long and hard about what to tell the blonde girl in front of him, and had finally come to a hard decision. Luna was trying her hardest to act like her normal self, but inside she was extremely worried. What would Harry say? What would he do? What would she do?

_Today was so strange. I need to know more about this boy before anything else happens. Harry is so… perfect, but he is also so mysterious. I'm pretty good at reading people, but I still know almost nothing about him._

"Harry, would you tell me more about your godfather?"

_That's not what I want to know! Augh, can't I even have enough courage to ask him what I really want to know?_

She had spun and was now walking backwards with her hands clasped behind her back. Harry's neutral face broke into a smile. He must have been thinking about something pretty deeply.

"Sirius?"

"Do you have another?"

Harry gave a short laugh. "Good point. Well, he broke out of Azkaban and is still on the run technically from the ministry."

"I know about that. He killed some people?"

"No. He was accused and convicted without a trial. Sirius would have never killed anyone…. back then. He was trying to catch Peter Pettigrew, but the little rat escaped after killing those people and faking his own death. Sirius didn't put up much of a fight because he blamed himself for my parent's deaths."

"Why would he do that?"

"Fidelius charm."

"The secret keeping charm? That's hard to do…"

"My parents were protecting our home with it, and Sirius was going to be the keeper of the secret, but at the last minute couldn't come and so they used the only one else they trusted who was around."

"Pettigrew?"

"Exactly. So my parents were killed, and Sirius was blamed for that as well."

"Sounds like a very unlucky fellow."

Harry laughed out loud at that.

"He is at that. But from the time we've spent together I can tell that he is a great man…" Harry had to frown. Quietly, he added, "Better than my father in some respects."

Luna had heard his quiet confession but said nothing. She could only wonder what he meant.

"He's an animagus as well. Padfoot the big black dog."

"A big black dog?"

"Yes."

"I think I saw him last year…"

"You probably did, he was here a while with Remus."

"Professor Lupin?"

"Yeah, those two plus my father and Pettigrew were great friends. They all became animagus at Hogwarts except Remus."

"He was a werewolf, right?"

"Right… wait, how did you know that?"

"Hm? He had the feel of a werewolf, and he was missing whenever there was a full moon."

Luna smiled and spun back around just in time to dodge a tree. They had reached the thestral nest.

"It would be fun to become and animagus, I think."

"It's dangerous, Luna. But I agree. The main problem would be registering with the ministry. I don't want them knowing anything more about me, it would probably hit the newspapers the minute I 'privately' registered in 'secret'."

"Daddy wouldn't print something like that."

"I know."

They walk into the forest and into and among the thestrals. The black winged beasts were only dangerous when angered or if one had some food with them. Besides the death-like visage, they were quite agreeable if they were treated properly. Harry cautiously approached one who was watching him and with practiced ease calmed the creature and rubbed his neck in just the way they liked. Luna was surprised that he was so quickly able to calm the wild animal.

"Is there anything you don't know how to do?"

"What?"

"I… Sorry."

Harry had spun when he heard Luna's question, and from the looks of it she was ashamed that she had asked it. Harry gave the thestral a slight pat and then approached the girl he had so much to say to.

"Luna."

"Yes?"

"You are right to be suspicious of me. I do know far too much to be normal."

Luna raised her eyes from the ground. They were now wide and attentive without the normal dreamy stare. What did he mean?

"Luna, you probably have many questions, especially about today's little… adventure. I intend to answer them, if you will promise to hear me out. And I mean all the way."

Luna only saw worry in the eyes of the boy in front of her. He was worried that she would… do what? Whatever he was worried about he was very worried about it. The choice was not hard to make. She wanted answers and she needed them now. Before she was worried she would have to press Harry for them, but now things would be easier.

Oh how wrong she was.

"I agree."

"Have a seat." Harry, without speaking an incantation or even getting his wand out of his pocket, transfigured a chair from the ground for both of them.

Luna knew then that she was in over her head.


	10. Half-Truth

Chapter 9: The Truth, Nothing But the Truth... well...

* * *

It was shocking, at first, to see wordless, wandless magic from Harry, but she soon got over it.

So soon, in fact, that only a second later her own wand was in her hand and pointed at the boy.

"Petrificus Toltalus!"

Her spell hit Harry and he twitched, but otherwise was unaffected. She was about to start casting any and all of her other spells before Harry merely put his hand out and her wand was suddenly in his hand, not hers. For a moment she was tempted to make a run for it, but knew she wouldn't get a few feet away before he got her.

"Please, Luna. Have a seat. I know that this is shocking, but try to trust me for a few minutes. I promise… the truth."

Luna hadn't sat into the chair that he had transfigured from the earth moments before, but upon realizing that she currently had no other options and her curiosity was only getting worse, she took her seat. She sat as rigid as someone who had been petrified with the spell she herself had cast only moments before. The boy, if that was truly what was in front of her, just smiled a sad little smile. If Luna didn't know that it was impossible, or at least highly unlikely, for Harry Potter, or any human for that matter, to have learned such magic at his age, she might have thought that her spell had hurt his feelings.

_I knew it was too good to be true. Now I'm trapped in the forest with someone who is probably pretending to be Harry Potter and who is insanely powerful. He probably killed Harry and took his place over the summer. I wonder how no one noticed…_

Luna couldn't control the feeling of intense sadness that ran through her at that thought. The pieces fit all too well. For some reason this person wanted her for something and decided to approach her in the disguise of a boy she knew. Tried to woo her. And then trap her. It all made sense now, kind of. All the friendship, talks, the invitation to the ball…

"Luna?"

"What?" She surprised herself at the anger in her voice.

"You're crying."

Luna reached up to her face with a jerk. Yes, she was crying. And she knew exactly why. Logic, or at least her own self-depreciating logic, said that the thing in front of her killed Harry Potter, a boy she never met and who never had feelings for her, and was trying to get to her for some reason that was beyond her reasoning. No one had become a new friend. No one had invited her to the ball. No one sat and talked with her in the morning before sunrise, or when she didn't want to study amongst the bullies in her house. It was a ruse, which is how he knew the hot chocolate recipe, all of the mythical creatures she talked about, and her morning rituals involving songs. Now why he wanted to play these games with her, she didn't have a clue.

The more she thought about this, the more tears ran down her face. But her expression never changed. All that the "Harry" in front of her would see was a neutral face, streaked with tears.

"Luna…"

"What do you want from me?"

The "Harry" in front of her just looked at her. His mouth was slightly open, like he was shocked at her question or behavior. What did he care? He was finally going to reveal himself and probably kidnap her for ransom. Good luck with getting anything, her father wasn't wealthy in the least.

"I… Luna, I…"

He couldn't speak. It would have been almost comical if a hundred different death scenes of the Harry Potter she never knew would have stopped going through her head. Maybe this Harry had only recently replaced the real Harry Potter… but she knew that was merely wishful thinking that he would have even wanted to be her friend. She mentally frowned at herself for even considering it _'wishful thinking'_ that Harry Potter's death had come after he had become her friend. He was dead, and that was that.

"I want… I want you to listen to me, OK? I just want you to sit and listen." The fake-Harry appeared to almost choke back tears of his own. He was a good actor. "You have questions, I have answers."

"Then tell me who you are."

He looked shocked again.

"I'm Harry."

"Lie."

"I am! Look, here's that stupid lightning scar!"

"Easy to fake."

He pulled his robe sleeve up to show a circle patch of white skin near his shoulder.

"Basilisk fang."

"Also fakeable."

"My wand, I would never let someone else use my wand."

"Unless you were dead."

He froze at that. She knew she had hit it right on the nose. But instead of giving up the charade he looked about ready to toss his dinner.

"I… I'm really me."

"You are not Harry Potter. There is no way he would be able to do what you do, what you just did."

"What if I had special training?"

"Unlikely, and that's still too much ability someone our age even with years of training, no matter how intense. No one but the most powerful wizards can do silent wandless magic, and certainly not something as complex as transfigurations."

"How can I convince you that I am who I am?"

She didn't respond. She honestly didn't know. The person in front of her breathed a heavy sigh.

"Look, let's set that question aside for a moment. We can come back to it. First, let me explain to you two very important things."

"Fine."

"One, I'm not here to… hurt you." He choked out that last sentence. "Two, you are in very grave danger."

"I'm not sure I believe the first one, and the second became brutally obvious when you created my seat."

The almost-Harry gave a half smile at that.

"Not from me, Luna. Never from me. But someone out there really has it out for you. Luna, who do you know who could get close to you and perform a few hours long ritual on you without you noticing?"

Luna just stared at him. What an odd question from someone who likely killed Harry Potter. She was tempted to remain silent, but that would get her nowhere.

"I… I don't know. What kind of ritual?"

"Charms, but difficult ones. Here, I'll show you." And with a wave of his hand, the pseudo-Harry caused her vision to go crazy. Instantly the world become more than it was. Colors drifted in and out of every living thing around her. The boy in front of her shined a calming dandelion yellow except his scar which was a sick dark green, while the thestrals oozed a dull maroon. It took her a moment to get used to it, but she understood immediately what she was seeing.

"I can see magic?"

"Yes, but what you need to see is not me, but this."

He once again demonstrated amazing transfiguration abilities without a wand or even words as a full body sized mirror rose from the forest floor and she saw herself.

She wasn't quite sure what she was looking at, in all honesty, or what it was supposed to look like. She wasn't like the fake-Harry, or the thestrals, or the trees. They all had mostly solid colors, normal colors. Her aura was wavering and sickly. Wisps of neon green magic looked like they were squeezed out of his magic. She looked completely different than the fake-Harry or the thestrals. Her's was also dotted with some strange designs. Some designs were small, like the blue spiral on her ankle. Some designs were larger, like one on the side of her ribs that was a blood red in the shape of an 'X'. She saw a few that looked similar, but most were different colors and different purposed. She gave an involuntary shiver.

"Did you do this to me?"

The "Harry" in front of her looked startled, he was getting good at that expression, before waving his hands to exaggerate his next point.

"NO! Never! I would never do this to anyone!"

She didn't know whether to believe that, but he still sounded sincere. He was good at that, too.

"What are they?

"Four spells are affecting your magic. Now, one is actually a good thing…"

"The blue spiral."

"How did you know?"

"It looks soothing."

"It should. If my guess is correct, than your father was the one who applied it to you. It looks to be many years old and its only purpose is as a general, but not specific, tracking charm. My guess is that it would let him know if you had serious health issues. Your dad is trying to help keep you safe in his own way."

Luna didn't know what to think about that, but she decided to think about it later when she wasn't in a forest with someone who was growing more confusing by the moment. When she didn't mention anything but continued to look in the mirror, the person continued.

"Those two 'X' marks, the red and the brown, are weak and inexperienced charms intended to disorient or cause mild lack of muscle coordination. These are the least of your worries, as they hardly affect you and can be easily removed. They could have been applied any time in the last 2 years, and by anyone. Possibly by some of our classmates."

"_My_ classmates."

He just kept talking, pointing to the mirror to show the spots he was talking about.

"There were two more tracking charms from unknown sources. I assume that at least one was the one our teacher was using to track us in the maze today. Why? Probably because we have been spending a lot of time together and he thought I might notice it on myself."

"What about the green? It doesn't seem natural."

The Harry look-alike instantly changed from downcast to angry. It didn't seem directed at her, but it was still rather intimidating.

"The green charm is illegal. That is what I want to know about. It's a magic leech charm, used ages ago in order to suppress magic power of anyone you didn't like. Specifically used on half-blood slaves before that form of slavery was made illegal. Not only does it suppress magic, it leeches it off and transfers it to the charmer. It takes a skilled hand to apply, but once it's on it doesn't come off unless the counter charm is done. Long term effects include causing people to become squibs, which is what made it illegal in the first place."

Luna was shocked. If he was telling the truth, and he could be, than she _was_ in grave danger. Before she could look more at it the magic sight went away and instead of the glowing girl with many interesting shapes and colors around her she was looking in a mirror at a dirty blonde haired girl with tear streaks down her face that had still not completely stopped. And as she saw them and felt them with her hand she remembered why they were there and the tears continued unabated.

"Luna…"

"If what you say is true, what can I do?"

"Let me remove them."

"I can't trust you."

"Luna… your father's name is Xenophilius. You live in a house shaped like a rook near the Weasleys. You enjoy the outdoors, exploration…"

"Anyone could find those things out."

"…your mother died in front of you when you were nine years old while she was experimenting on a new spell involving channeling electrical impulses between people so as to share thoughts, but no one besides a few people know because she was doing it as an unspeakable. Something went wrong with her test and her brain stopped functioning altogether and she was pronounced dead upon reaching the hospital. You knelt by her side and tried to wake her up for hours afterwards until they had to tear you away from her so they could take the body to prepare it for burial. When they did that you managed to rip a piece of the robe she had been wearing off, which you carefully and magically preserved and carry on your person at all times. It's a light grey, solid researcher's fabric that you've long worn smooth by careful yet constant handling."

Her eyes had stopped crying, if only to have gone wide in complete shock. No one knew that! Her father didn't know, the doctors didn't know. No one had seen it except her, and only in the safety of her room at home at night. It was the single most precious item she owned. But no one should know it existed.

"You want to ask me how I know this. The answer is simple. You told me."

He looked strangely about as confused as she felt.

"I am Harry Potter. The real Harry Potter. But I had… and experience on the train ride here this year. You remember."

"Yes, I remember. It's how we met. You were having problems with your magic core."

"It was the first time you had met me, but it wasn't the first time I had met you."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying…" He paused and looked up to the branches. The sun was beginning to set. "I'm saying that I had a sort of out-of-body experience. It was very weird. I saw things, and heard things, and felt things I had never felt before. I couldn't even begin to describe it. Visions of the past, the future, alternate pasts and futures and presents. Professor Dumbledore and I are still trying to figure it all out. Spells and abilities that I shouldn't know, don't know, suddenly appear out of my mind like a burst of inspiration. Maybe it is. But I sometimes remember things, too. Memories, I think, of other Harrys. Other mes. I know you. I knew you. I will know you. Sometime in some future you told me these things. I met you in that train for the first time, but also not the first time."

She was silent for a moment. If it was true, and that was a large 'if', then that would explain an awful lot.

"So is that why you are letting me hang around you? Pity, because of my past?"

"NO! God damn it all! Stop putting yourself down! I don't pity you. I don't feel sorry for you. I empathize with you. Lest you forget, you aren't the only one who can see the thestrals!"

Luna was out of her seat now.

"You don't remember! You weren't old enough!"

"I remember everything afterwards! I remember living with my ogre of an uncle and my witch, no offense, of an aunt. I remember being told over and over again that I was scum and my parents were scum who deserved to die! I remember living!"

"So you think you had it worse than me?"

"WE ARE NOT COMPARING OUR PARENT'S DEATHS!"

Silence. Luna and Harry took a small step back. Their argument had brought them to the point of yelling in each others faces. Harry sat down in his chair roughly. The thestrals were all on the other side of the nesting area now, disconcerted by the two teens venting their anger, confusion, and frustration.

"Look… Luna. I'm not who I once was. I admit that. But I am who I am now. I made a decision months ago that I wanted us to be friends, and it had nothing to do with your past. I knew you were a good person…"

Luna had placed her hand over her mouth following their yelling match, the first she had ever taken part in, in horror at what she had said to the boy. She barely managed a weak reply.

"I think I just proved that I am not a good person, Harry."

He chuckled a bit.

"Luna, you are without a doubt one of the most 'good' people there is. A few minutes ago you probably though I had killed the real Harry Potter and hidden his body somewhere, probably before we even met. Before that, you thought I was a new friend, I hope. I'm sorry for yelling, and I know you didn't mean it, either."

She nodded emphatically. She couldn't grasp it all right now, but he was right. Not once had he hurt her. Not once had he been anything but kind to her. Her paranoia was just that, based off of her own lack of self-worth. But, try as she might, she couldn't speak without choking back tears.

"Luna…"

Again, the boy-with-pretty-eyes (even if he wasn't Harry Potter), knew exactly what she needed. A moment later and he was embracing her as they stood. She cried into his shoulder, not knowing what to do. First he's dead, then he's not, then he sees the future, then she has charms on her, then he wants to take them off…

Luna just wanted to go to sleep and hope this evening was just a dream. Instead she just continued to silently weep into the shoulder of the boy holding her.

"Luna, I wasn't lying when I said I wanted you to go with me to the yule ball. You are an amazing person. Not to mention being able to hold up those seals without showing signs. I didn't even notice until I checked while we were hiding today."

Luna had managed to barely control her crying after a few minutes, so she was able to respond.

"Was that… when your magic lost control?"

"Yeah, seeing that seal really got me angry."

_Angry because he wanted me safe?_

"The others might not be as bad, but I couldn't control my anger when I saw them all. I don't really like to believe that there are at least three incredibly stupid people around Hogwarts who would purposefully sabotage your career as a witch."

_He's defending me._

"Harry…"

"If I am Harry," he said with a chuckle.

She had to snicker at that, too. A few minutes ago she had been sure he was at least a murder, but this was Harry. It felt like Harry. And even if this was a Harry imposter, it was the boy that was her friend.

"If you are Harry, what would it take to get these seals off of me."

"Honestly, not much. I could do it now with a few minutes. Counter charms are much easier and faster to perform than complex charms."

"Do it."

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Please."

"Yes, ma'am."

* * *

True to his promise, the sun was almost set and the air was getting very cool when the boy that would be Harry stopped waving his wand around her and activated magic sight on her again to show the changes.

Her magic flowed unhindered now, a bright lilac color that was surging after being restrained for so long. She felt amazing.

Luna bounced up and down on her toes as smiled into the mirror. The blue spiral remained on her ankle, but every other blemish was gone.

"How do you feel?"

Luna spun around once just to feel the freedom. How had she missed this? Is this how everyone always felt? It was like she had been suffering from a permanent state of congestion and allergies, but was suddenly cured.

"I feel good."

But she couldn't let this boy know that yet. She still wasn't buying all of his story.

"Good. You should practice some magic before you go firing any more spells at people." Harry tossed her wand to her. "You might find the results slightly stronger than normal."

"Alright. Lumos."

Barely any effort on her part produced a bright light from the tip of her wand. Luna was a little startled, as she was only going for a weak light.

"Nox."

Harry Potter gave a tired smile. What had just transpired had been most likely the single most nerve wracking moment of his two lives. If he hadn't guessed what spell Luna had been about to fire when he had seen her hand moving towards her wand, he would still be on the ground frozen stiff, unable to even do wandless magic with Luna's spell affecting him. He had not been expecting her to nearly break down, and he had really not expected her to reach the conclusion that he was an imposter.

Granted, in hindsight, he was an 'imposter' in a way. And she was logical to assume so.

He had barely managed to pull the whole 'soul trip' thing out in an effective lie. He was almost sure that she would accept it after a while, even if she didn't fully believe him now. It was true, in a way. A half-truth, if there was such a thing.

Harry sighed.

He had nearly lost the one thing he couldn't lose again. He watched her as her smile widened and she seemed to return to her old self. He had been thoroughly frightened when she had suddenly gone from her normal, dreamy and beautiful, self to a neutral faced stranger. But if he had to guess, she had probably used that face once before in the years immediately following her mother's death.

It was now unofficially Harry's ultimate goal to never let that face come over Luna's features again.

"Harry, to be honest, I feel great. I mean, better than great! I can't describe it."

"Your magic is free. You aren't going to be levitating castles with Wingardium Leviosa, but you should feel stronger."

"Not as strong as you?"

Harry shrugged. He hadn't expected tonight to ever need to happen, and now that it had played out he was certain that there must have been a better way. In one small period of time he had nearly destroyed Luna's trust in him, which he had known was already a fragile thing. It was just a large amount of luck, and a story Luna had told him when they had been very close friends and talking about their parents, that had saved not only their budding friendship, but his chances at a normal life in this life…

If he could beat Voldemort.

"What is strength? Who is strong? Strength means nothing unless the person behind that strength has knowledge and wisdom."

"Spoken like a true Ravenclaw."

Luna gave a small smile to him. It wasn't a large or as meaningful as some of the others that he had seen her give, but it was a real smile. Harry Potter smiled back.

_Well, it could have gone a lot worse, I guess._

"The hat didn't offer that choice. He said I could be a snake or a lion. Honestly, sometimes I wonder if I should have picked Slitherin."

"I'm glad you didn't. You'd more likely than not turned out like Malfoy."

Harry had a burning desire to both laugh and frown at that comment. Malfoy hadn't 'turned out' well in his last life. For very good reasons.

"Maybe, but I like to think that I could have overcome their influence." With a flick of his hand he removed any traces of their visit to the forest. He held his hand out to Luna in hopes that she would take it.

She did.

He may have missed the small blush that came to her face when their skin made contact if he hadn't have been looking for it. He had missed these things last time. He had been so focused on himself this year, his friendship troubles and surviving the hatred at school, and the next few years with trying to rouse public knowledge about Voldemort. He didn't have the time to see the people outside his main focus.

And he had missed out.

Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a small scroll as they walked back to the castle. Unrolling it, he showed Luna a large single symbol on the page glowing an eerie green.

"Luna, this is a rune."

She looked at him like he was telling her the sky was blue. He almost slapped himself. Of course she knew what a rune was.

"What kind of rune?"

"Well, it is kind of like… a proximity rune. But I made this out of the charm that was constraining your magic."

Her eyes went wide for a moment before looking at the rune again.

"So this will tell me who put that ghastly charm on me?"

"No, but if they get within three meters of you, the scroll will begin to vibrate. If it does, don't let on that you know. It's not that I don't trust you to handle yourself…"

"Do you?"

"Yes! Well, mostly… I trust you, I don't trust some people around you. Malfoy, for one. But it's more important than that. We are talking about someone who was willing to commit a crime worthy of the dementor's kiss against you. They have probably figured out already that their charm has been removed, so they might try it again, or do something worse. Let me know, or Dumbledore. I'll let him know about it. They can't get away with doing that to you, but I'm more afraid of what they plan on doing now that it failed."

"I'll be careful."

Harry smiled at her.

"I know, just make sure you stay in public areas."

Luna nodded.

"Do you think you could teach me that spell you did on my eyes?"

"The magic sight? Sure, the incantation is rather simple…"

* * *

The first half of the year was quickly coming to a close. Snow covered the Hogwarts grounds like a thick white blanket that was only broken by the tracks of students. With the approach of Yule time came the approach of what to some was a time to be feared, and to others was a time to be excited for.

But for most, it was a time for both.

The Yule Ball was coming.

In the short weeks after Harry's revelation to Luna, Harry busily prepared for what would be the most important night of his life.

And the return of Voldemort, but his priorities were skewed slightly towards a pretty, young blonde rather than an old, ugly snake. It was his ultimate goal, after all, to just live a happy life. Voldemort wasn't a goal, he was an obstacle to that goal.

Whenever he had that thought it would make Harry stop in his tracks. Just a few months ago he had been fighting against the Snake and his followers and that _had_ been his goal. More than a goal, actually. It had been his meaning to exist, after so many of his friends had been taken from him violently. Now, with his friends alive and healthy, and no constant fear of losing more people he was honestly at peace.

This thought had hit him while fake-studying one day and he had stopped in mid page turn.

_Should I really be doing it this way? Playing along as if everything is going to be fine? If I allow Voldemort to be set loose into the world again because I have gotten sloppy, how could I forgive myself?_

_Would it be better to just tell Dumbledore I'm leaving and go out right now to find and kill the rat and then get Lucius and make sure that Azkaban is filled with the dead, not the insane? This isn't a game. This is the most important thing that could be done for the future of the world in the coming years. So many will die if I fail again._

He had stood up and slammed his book shut and stormed out of the common room, startling many of the others that had been around. He walked as if he was a man with a mission as he headed towards nowhere in particular.

_Am I playing with the lives of thousands so that I might be able to fake living like a kid again? I'm not the person I was. There is more at stake than a stupid quiddich cup or house points or a triwizard cup. I've lived for years on the edge and it made me strong. Will I lose my edge in this comfort? I've smiled more in the past week than I did in the final few years of the war combined._

Harry was glad that wherever he was in Hogwarts was empty. With a quick turn he went into the next doorway, and finding an abandoned class room, went to town.

A flick of his wand and the desks and chairs had become death eater shaped targets against the far wall. A single calming breath filled his body and was half released when his wand came up into a dueling posture.

"Reducto!"

The spell left his wand like a cannon ball and blew the wooden target into dust, leaving a crater in the stone wall behind it. It was a simple spell, one of his most often cast for its simplicity and lethality. He could cast them silently as well, but with a wand and his voice the power was unmatched. Before the stone fragments hit the ground Harry had already begun his next spell. Some of his spells required a small incantation to cast and could not be cast silently or wandlessly. These were the most ancient and most powerful. Obtained from lost libraries that Harry had sought out and found the previous time for an edge on Voldemort.

"Fire of the Sun-Born Wyrm, I call upon thee. Cinder."

Out of his wand came a ball of red light that moved slower than a reducto, but still fast enough it would be nearly impossible to dodge. The target did nothing for a moment as the spell hit it, but after a few seconds the wood showed signs of burn marks on the exterior and a few seconds later it burst into flame. The spell was meant to cause an unquenchable spontaneous combustion a set amount of time after being hit with the spell. Once it hit the person, short of Harry cancelling with a counter spell he invented, they would be burned to ash ten seconds after it activated, which could be any time from a second to a few days later.

But it had been too slow for Voldemort, who had not given him enough time for such a long casting incantation.

"Petrifrost."

The last target was quickly encased in a block of ice from the ground up. A silent reducto later and the statue was in pieces.

Harry waved his wand to repair and reorder the room and sat down on the floor where he was.

_Who am I? Am I the leader from the war, who led the survivors in a desperate struggle for freedom and life against an all-powerful tyrant? Or am I a 16 year old boy who happens to remember what hasn't happened yet, is developing a relationship with a girl, and is trying to last through school. Can I be happy and enjoy what time I have, or should I be waiting to do that until this is all done?_

Harry's mind drifted along these paths of doubt and self-examination, but his mind always came back to one thought.

_Why am I here? Wasn't it so I could be with my friends? I said it was to save them, but they aren't currently in danger. I want to be with my friends, to live long happy lives with my friends. Screw Voldemort, he's just in my way this time. Last time he shattered my dreams, this time I plan on destroying his._

Harry jumped to his feet and left the room. The light coming in the windows showed that it was already way past dinner and probably past curfew. He smiled at that. There wasn't any reason to not smile. Life was good, and it was going to stay that way. There wasn't any reason to think differently.

* * *

Luna Lovegood smiled lazily at the ceiling of the Great Hall. It was breakfast again, another day of life had begun. A few of her house mates would cautiously glance her way every so often. She knew they were likely wondering why her smile was a little less dreamy than usual. She had been asking herself the same question every so often and had come up with multiple reasons.

The first was that she was no longer bound by some type of curse. She had been doing better, even though she had already been good, in all of her magic related classes. It was like a weight was lifted off her shoulders.

The second was that she was that she had actually been having conversations with more people than just Ginny and now Harry. Ron and Hermione had both gone out of their way to say hello and even ask about her classes and other things. And not a word was out of spite. Ron had been a little awkward at first, but he soon realized Luna was just a quiet girl more than anything.

The last reason was the least likely, in her own opinion. In less than a week she would be going to the Yule Ball with a boy. A boy who was weird and crazy and who cared about her enough to become furious in anger when someone did something wrong to her.

_Weird, crazy, and powerful._

A little mental note was added for her own benefit. No one else knew anything about Harry except that he was, supposedly, rich and good at quiditch. Only a few of his close friends knew him as a person.

Luna blushed a little as she continued to stare at the ceiling, knowing that she was among those few.

It was a good feeling, and one she was growing to accept with more ease by the day.

With an ever so quick glance to her side she was able to catch sight of the object of her current thoughts. Harry was apparently switching back and forth between relishing his food and listening to Ron and Nevile. She could only guess why Hermione wasn't with them. She had to glance the other direction to find Hermione sitting with Ginny at the other end of the table.

As a matter of fact, it seemed like a large portion of the hall was sitting in separate gender groups. Only a few couples sat at any of the tables.

_I must have missed the memo. Either that, or people are starting to get nervous about the Yule Ball. Harry seemed to be one of the earliest ones to ask someone. I wonder if there are still people waiting to be asked._

A quick glance towards Gryffindor table told here all she needed to know about that. Secret glances were being thrown across gender gaps, trying to see if the person of their affection was taken or was still unattended. There were quite a few glances from the female sides of tables towards the direction of Durmstrang's tables, just as a lot of boys were glancing towards the Beauxbatons table.

With a sigh, Luna popped a tart in her mouth. Any other year, she would have ignored this phenomenon. After all, she had no one she would want to go with and no one would have wanted her.

_Past tense, would have wanted. Now I have someone that wants to go. And, in all honesty, I want to go with him, too._

She sent her own secretive glace towards the object of her current thoughts, and was startled to find he had snuck his own look. He was looking right at her with a silly grin on his face as the mash he had in his spoon slid out and onto his lap with a plop. He gave a small yelp before banishing and cleaning his garment with exaggerated wand gestures as his friends laughed.

Luna gave a small laugh herself before realizing that she still had the tart in her mouth and probably looked crazy with the wider-than-her-mouth tart half in and half out of her mouth. She quickly bit, chewed, and swallowed. Maybe this was affecting her more than she thought.

* * *

_Finally, after three months of chasing the bastard, Harry Potter stood only a few dozen feet from his target. It hadn't been easy, getting here. After missing his target the first few times by only a few seconds, this time he had come prepared._

_They stood in the ruins of Hogsmeade, not too far away from the Shrieking Shack. Draco was probably only starting to figure out the trap Harry had set for him. The traitorous scum was now one of the top death eaters, promoted after the murder of Sirius Black, and had been put in charge of hit-and-runs on the Order of the Phoenix. It had been a gamble, but they had used one of their new hideouts in the ruins of the village, and some high ranking Order members, as bait._

_It had finally worked. _

_Draco had led his death eaters to the back door he had been informed about as an Order member, blown the whole wall apart… only to find that the inside was completely empty._

_But it was already too late, he had activated Harry's wards._

_Following the death of Sirius, Harry had devoted himself to the war as never before, studying every magic he got his hands on. And three months later he had a very firm grasp on runes and their uses._

_For example, the building Draco attacked was at the center of a mile radius anti-portkey, anti-apparition ward. Not only could it not be done, but an attempt to activate a port-key would cause a violent explosion. Apparition would be… messy._

_Still, Harry was pleased to watch from his hiding place as two of Draco's two dozen men tried portkeys and the ensuing explosions either killed or at least removed another 5 from play._

_Draco quickly rallied his remaining troops and made sure no one tried it again. Harry was both disappointed and excited._

_He had really been hoping Draco wouldn't try the apparition or portkey._

_This was personal._

_He stayed in hiding, waiting to give the signal for his team to strike. Remus, Tonks, Hermione, Susan Bones, Nevile, and even Luna were all in hiding waiting to attack. If Harry knew Draco, his next move would be…_

"_Everyone scatter! Don't apparate until you get at least outside of town. You four, with me!"_

_Perfect._

_Harry waved his wand and fired a bright spark into the air. It was the signal. The other members of his team, in groups of two, would know that death eaters were on the way. Harry had already anticipated the most likely paths of escape, even directed the death eaters by making certain routes very easy and others very hard. Harry was waiting along the easiest, quickest, route out of town._

_The route Draco obviously chose for his group of five._

_Harry gripped his wand firmly in his hand and waited for Draco get closer. They were sprinting frantically, knowing a trap had been sprung but not knowing if there was more to it._

_And Harry was ready._

_A silent activation spell on the rumble strewn in the road as the Draco's first guard past over it was the beginning._

_An explosion blew the death eater into the air in pieces and knocked the four behind, including Draco, to the ground._

"_Avia Bombarda!"_

_A high pressure wave came out of his wand and knocked the death eaters back even further. It was a simple matter for Harry to stupefy the three remaining death eaters, each suffering from broken eardrums by the looks of the blood coming out their ears._

_Only Draco was left. He had barely had enough time for a powerful defensive spell right when Harry cast his air explosion spell. He was on his feet and running back the way he came before Harry was had stunned the last of his body guards._

"_Run as fast of you can, Malfoy. I don't want this to be over quick."_

_Harry knew that with his own control over magic, he could easily out run the blonde haired scum. Instead, he calmly jogged behind, just keeping pace with Draco's own sprinting._

_Which didn't last long. Draco spun, panting, and was surprised to see that Harry was the same distance away and not breathing hard at all._

"_What's the matter Malfoy? Don't purebloods exercise? I would have thought you would have been faster…"_

"_Avada Kedavra!"_

_Harry dodged the telegraphed spell with ease. Even Luna could cast that spell better than Draco, though she could never mean it enough to kill. Draco obviously did mean it, as the slow moving green light struck the ruined house behind him and blew a hole clean through it._

"_Avada…"_

"_Petrificous Totalus!"_

_Harry's body bind easily hit its target, causing Draco to collapse to the ground frozen. He finally had the little rat in his grasp. The traitor, the Iscariot, the low life that had nearly cost dozens of innocent's their lives and ended by planning the death of his godfather. And yet… he couldn't just kill him as he lay there, completely helpless. Maybe they would find a better use for him through interrogation…_

"_Harry!"_

_Harry Potter spun to see Hermione just coming around the bend. This was completely unexpected, the plan had been to eliminate all, or as much as was safe, of the fleeing death eaters and then immediately use the coded portkeys Harry had aligned with his wards to go back to the current main Order hideout._

"_Hermione, we're all done here. Go back to base, I'll meet you there."_

"_Harry…"_

_Harry only caught the look on her face as she came up close. Something had happened, something was wrong, someone…_

"_What is it? What happened? Who…"_

"_Susan. She thought he was dead, turned her back and took a piercing hex through the heart."_

_Harry just stared at her in shock. This had been his mission, his plan. He could have brought more, but refused. He could have made it quick and clean, with a massive explosion when the trap had been sprung, he had wanted this to be personal._

_And now it was._

_And it was Harry Potter's fault that his friend was dead._

_Now, if Harry had been older, more mature, or maybe if he had been more logical and less emotional about the whole thing. Maybe if Harry Potter hadn't seen his godfather murdered brutally. Maybe if he had experienced death under his command earlier. Maybe what happened next wouldn't have happened._

_But he would never regret it._

"_DRACO!"_

_With a flick of his wand Draco was on his own feet, wand in hand, and no longer under Harry's body bind. He looked frightened. Hermione would never tell Harry, but he knew in his heart that what he did next frightened her, too._

"_Death is too good for the likes of you, but as I am limited in my abilities it will have to do."_

"_Potter, you can't kill me…"_

_Harry didn't speak, but with a swish of his wand he conjured some metal spikes out of the ruins around him and banished them from different angles towards Draco, each towards an area that wouldn't kill._

_And the pureblood wizard never saw it coming._

_He fell to the ground screaming as blood spurted from his arms and legs. Harry used his wand to control the spikes, lifting Draco Malfoy into the air and then onto a half destroyed wall. The spikes lengthened through Draco's body, nailing him to the wall. The blonde screamed the entire time._

"_I don't have time for a slow death. Just a painful one. You remember this spell, don't you Draco? Sectumsempra! Sectumsempra! Sectumsempra! Sectumsempra…"_

_Harry started with the feet, and moved up about six inches with each spell giving about five seconds between each cut. Soon, Draco was only hanging by his arms, nearly dead from pain and blood loss, though Harry's magic was doing its best to keep that to a minimum._

"_I'd say you're but half the man you used to be, but you never were anything more than a sniveling weasel. Rot in hell, Draco Malfoy. I'm sending your father to meet you soon."_

_Harry conjured a single metal spike at the bottom of the wall and then had the spikes holding Draco to the wall vanish. Somewhere in his mind he heard Hermione throwing up behind him. Draco was now no more than half a human body impaled from groin to skull on a black spike. With a final wave of his wand words appeared on the base of the spike._

"_His death was painless compared to what awaits those who come next."_

_And Harry meant every word._


End file.
